Weights are often associated with currency since units of currency involve prescribed amounts of a given metal. Thus for example the English pound has been both a unit of weight and a unit of currency. Greek weights similarly bear a nominal resemblance to Greek currency yet the origin of the Greek standards of weights is often disputed.[1] There were two dominant standards of weight in the eastern Mediterranean - a standard that originated in Euboea and that was subsequently introduced to Attica by Solon, and also a standard that originated in Aegina. The Attic/Euboean standard was supposedly based on the barley corn, of which there were supposedly twelve to one obol. However, weights that have been retrieved by historians and archeologists show considerable variations from theoretical standards. A table of standards derived from theory is as follows:[1]
Units of length date back to at least the early dynastic period. In the Palermo stone for instance the level of the Nile river is recorded. During the reign of PharaohDjer the height of the river Nile was given as measuring 6 cubits and 1 palm. This is equivalent to approximately 320cm (roughly 10 feet 6inches).
A third dynasty diagram shows how to construct an elliptical vault using simple measures along an arc. The ostracon depicting this diagram was found in the area of the Step Pyramid in Saqqara. A curve is divided into five sections and the height of the curve is given in cubits, palms and fingers in each of the sections.
Lengths could be measured by cubit rods, examples of which have been found in the tombs of officials. Fourteen such rods, including one double cubit rod, were described and compared by Lepsius in 1865.Two examples are known from the tomb of Maya - the treasurer of Tutankhamun - in Saqqara. Another was found in the tomb of Kha (TT8) in Thebes. These cubits are ca 52,5cm long and are divided into seven palms, each palm is divided into four fingers and the fingers are further subdivided.
Cubit rod from the Turin Museum.
For longer distances, such as land measurements, the Ancient Egyptians used rope. A scene in the tomb of Menna in Thebes shows surveyors measuring a plot of land using rope with knots ties at regular intervals. Similar scenes can be found in the tombs of Amenhotep-Sesi, Khaemhat and Djeserkareseneb. The balls of rope are also shown in New Kingdom statues of officials such as Senenmut, Amenemhet-Surer and Penanhor. Corinna Rossi, Architecture and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt, Cambridge University Press, 2007
