 |
This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (March 2008) |
Ancient Egyptian units of measure evolved over a period of several thousand years as a combination of two systems. The oldest Egyptian body measures date to the late Pre-Dynastic where the glyph for cubit measure is included in several palettes. The oldest glyphs related to agricultural measure show up on the Palette of the Scorpion king which shows the fields being divided up by irrigation ditches.
One system was decimal, written in Horus-Eye binary fractions, and used by surveyors to reestablish the metes and bounds of fields after the inundation (the Egyptian season of akhet) and to measure long distances such as roads and canals, and the other essentially septenary system was a canon of proportions developed from body measures used in inscription grids and in the measure of commodities such as rations of grain and beer.
The second system was always exact, partitioning a hekat into Horus-Eye quotients followed by Egyptian fraction quantified remainders, scaled to 1/320th units called ro. Both systems were designed to be accounted for with unit fractions, the decimal one being an infinite series and the exact one being a finite series.
Contents |
Standard
Aspects of the first Egyptian system formed the basis of the later Greek and Roman systems while those in turn influenced later European systems, though neither the Greeks nor Romans copied the second Egyptian system as practiced by Ahmes and other scribes.
Evidence for Unit Measures
The best and clearest evidence is found on Egyptian ceremonial rulers where it is carved in stone and where even those not fluent in reading hieroglyphic writing can observe the mh or foot cubit glyph spanning 15 fingers (3 hands) and 16 fingers (four palms = 300 mm).
The ceremonial ruler identifies the foot cubit mh placed across 15 and 16 fingers allowing a foot to be measured in palms or hands the remen has the nibw glyph above 20 fingers.
- 5 palms = 1 remen = 375 mm
The Romans, whose uncia became the English inch, made their remen 15" or 381 mm. The Egyptian inch was the basis for the Romans' Uncia and English inch.
Unit Measures
The Ancient Egyptian unit of linear measurement was known as the Royal Cubit, was maintained as 523.5 mm (20.61 inches) in length, and was subdivided into 7 palms of 4 digits each, giving 28 digits[1]. This measurement standard was used from at least 2,700 B.C. Many examples of actual cubit rules have survived, and some of these are elaborate ceremonial rules that were preserved in the temples.
Egyptian measurements are systematic to this standard but on actual measuring rods and artifacts may vary about one millimeter per cubit.
- 1 finger, db = 18¾ mm ≈ .72 inches
- 1 palm, šsp = 4 db = 75 mm ≈ 2.95 inches
- 1 hand, drt = 5 db = 93¾ mm ≈ 3.7 inches
- 1 fist, amm = 6 db = 112½ mm ≈4.4 inches
- 1 span, spd = 12 db = 225 mm ≈ 8.86 inches
- 1 foot, bw = 16 db = 300 mm ≈ 0.98 feet
- 1 remen, rmn = 20 db = 375 mm ≈ 1.23 feet
- 1 ordinary cubit, mh = 24 db = 6 šsp = 450 mm ≈ 1.48 feet
- 1 royal cubit, mh = 28 db = 7 šsp = 525 mm ≈ 1.72 feet
- 1 nibw = 32 db = 8 šsp = 600 mm ≈ 1.97 feet
- 1 double remen = 40 db = 2 rmn = 750 mm ≈ 2.46 feet
- 1 rod, h3yt = 280 db = 10 mh (royal) = 5.25 m ≈ 17.22 feet
- 1 ht, ht n nhw = 2800 db = 10 h3yt = 52.5 m ≈ 57.4 yards
- 1 minute of march = 9800 db = 350 mh (royal) = 183.75 m ≈ 200.85 yards
- 1 hour of march, atur, itrw = 588,000 db = 21,000 mh (royal) = 11.025 km ≈ 6.85 miles
Egyptian Rulers
Egyptian rulers vary from rough wooden sticks scored in fingers or palms to elaborate stone rulers. On the later rulers the db or finger units of 18.75 mm are individually named and divided into both unit fractions or ro. On the lower register a few special fractions like the rwy or 2/3 and the hmt rw or ¾, which are the only two non-unit Egyptian fractions, are also shown. Other divisions are named as well.
The Egyptian seked was the ratio of the rise and the horizontal run of a slope; in at least one case at Saqqara it defined the arc of a circle.
The cubit of the inscription grids foot holds a stylus and that of the nibw is shown spanning 18 fingers (three fists) and 19 fingers on this ruler.
Time
The 365 day year was introduced by 2773 BC. Night and day were both divided into 12 hours, the length of which depended on the seasons [2]. The introduction of equal length hours occurred in 127 BCE. The Alexandrian scholar Claudius Ptolemaeus introduced the division of the hour into 60 minutes in the second century CE.
See also
References
- Gardiner Egyptian Grammar § 266 for names of Egyptian units
- Mathematics in the time of the Pharaohs, Gillings, chapter 20.
- The Civilisation of Ancient Egypt, Paul Johnson
- Pommerening, Tanja, "Altagyptische Holmasse Metrologish neu Interpretiert" and relevant phramaceutical and medical knowledge, an abstract, Phillips-Universtat, Marburg, 8-11-2004, taken from "Die Altagyptschen Hohlmass" in studien zur Altagyptischen Kulture, Beiheft, 10, Hamburg, Buske-Verlag, 2005
- ^ Arnold 1991 Building in Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry. pp296
- ^ John Pairman Brown, The Lebanon and Phoenicia: Ancient Texts Illustrating Their Physical Geography and Native Industries, American University of Beirut 1969
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
