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Ancient weights and measures
Many of the ancient weights and measures used throughout history are variations on older systems. Different civilisations made adjustments to serve their own purposes however similarities between systems may be found. The accuracy and agreement of definitions improved over time.
Measurements that are used to define property are often used to impose taxes or tithes resulting in there being one measure for ordinary transactions and another for royal or religious transactions. Though throughout history people and their various representatives in guilds and lobbys, have been very scrupulous in defending the value of their possessions, governments and religions are even more scrupulous about getting their cut.
The first measures were the lengths of the ditches that bordered and defined the fields. Since people tend to pace off a distance differently, knotted cords were used to measure their sides and cord stretchers became the first surveyors.
Ancient cultures sharing similar systems of measurement
This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Roman system of measurement was built on the Greek system with Egyptian influences. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Weight Reduced to English troy-weight, the Hebrew weights were: Gerah (Lev. ... The Arabic system of measurement is based on the Persian system. ...
The people of the Indus Valley Civilization (ca. ... Vedic measures were first used by the Indian Vedic civilization, and are still in use today – primarily for religious purposes in Hinduism and Jainism. ...
The megalithic yard (sometimes abbreviated to MY) is a theoretical unit of prehistoric measurement first suggested by the Scottish engineer, Alexander Thom in 1955. ... The definition, agreement and practical use of units of weights and measures have played a crucial role in human endeavor from early ages up to this day. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
References
Renfrew, Colin and Bahn, Paul (2004). Archaeology. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0500 284415.
George Bass(2004). A History of Seafaring. Walker and Company. ISBN 08027-0-3909.
William H McNeil and Jean W Sedlar, (1962). The Ancient Near East. OUP. ISBN.
Andrew George, (2000). The Epic of Gillgamesh. Penguin. ISBN No14-044721-0.
James B. Pritchard, (1968). The Ancient Near East. OUP. ISBN.
Shaika Haya Ali Al Khalifa and Michael Rice, (1986). Bahrain through the Ages. KPI. ISBN 071030112-x.
Dr. Muhammed Abdul Nayeem, (1990). Prehistory and Protohistory of the Arabian Peninsula. Hyderabad. ISBN.
Marie-Loise Thomsen, (1984). Mesopotamia 10 The Sumerian Language. Academic Press. ISBN 87-500-3654-8.
Michael Roaf(1990). Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. Equinox. ISBN 0-8160-2218-6.
Chang(1979). The Archaeology of Ancient China. YUP. ISBN.
Nicholas Awde and Putros Samano(1986). The Arabic Alphabet. Billing & Sons Ltd.. ISBN 0863560350.
Gardiner(1990). Egyptian Grammar. Griffith Institute. ISBN 0900416351.
The earliest known uniform systems of weights and measures seem to have all been created sometime in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC among the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley, and perhaps also Elam in Persia as well.
Weights were based on units of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500, with each unit weighing approximately 28 grams, similar to the English ounce or Greek uncia, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0.871.
Early Babylonian and Egyptian records and the Bible indicate that length was first measured with the forearm, hand, or finger and that time was measured by the periods of the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies.
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