Ancient Egyptian units of measurement

Ancient Egyptian standards 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 innundation or 3ht and to measure long distances such as roads and canals, and the other essentially septenary system was a cannon 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.  

Standard

Very little of the Egyptian system of measurement was based on the Mesopotamian. The second Egyptian method of creating units was unique in history. Aspects of the first Egyptian system in its turn formed the basis of the later Greek and Roman systems while those in turn influenced later European systems, though neither the Greeks or Romans copied the second Egyptian system as practiced by Ahmes and other scribes

Conversion

The Egyptians may have taken a sexagesimal (base sixty) Mesopotamian system and converted it to a septenary (base seven) Egyptian system. However, that fragment did not form the core of Egyptian weights and measures. Egyptians may have taken an ordinary Mesopotamian cubit (kus) of five hands (gat), and making it equal 1 ordinary Egyptian cubit (mh) of 6 palms (ssp) and taking a great cubit of 6 hands, and making it equal 1 royal Egyptian cubit of 7 palms, but the core of exact unit measurement is reported in the Akhmim Woodent Tablet, a unique Egyptian docuemnt, showing no links to Mesopotamia. The Greeks got their system from the Hittites and Persians first and then found that small parts of it agreed with what they found in Egypt.

• 1 ordinary Mesopotamian cubit = 5 hands = 30 fingers = 25 thumbs = 500 mm.
• 1 great Mesopotamian cubit = 6 hands = 36 fingers = 30 thumbs = 600 mm.
• 1 ordinary Egyptian cubit = 6 palms = 24 fingers = 450 mm.
• 1 royal Egyptian cubit = 7 palms = 28 fingers = 525 mm.

The Greeks continued to use cubits based on hands while the Romans used cubits based on palms.

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 oynch made their remen 15" or 381 mm. The Egyptian inch was the basis for the Romans Uncia and English inch.

Unit Measures

Egyptian measures are systematic to this standard but on actual measuring rods and artifacts may vary about one millimetre per cubit.

• 1 finger, db = 18¾ mm
• 1 palm, šsp = 4 db = 75 mm
• 1 hand, drt = 5 db = 93¾ mm
• 1 fist, amm = 6 db = 112½ mm
• 1 span, spd = 12 db = 225 mm
• 1 foot, bw = 16 db = 300 mm
• 1 remen, rmn = 20 db = 375 mm
• 1 ordinary cubit, mh = 6 šsp = 450 mm
• 1 royal cubit, mh = 7 šsp = 525 mm
• 1 nibw = 8 šsp = 600 mm
• 1 double remen = 2 rmn = 750 mm
• 1 rod, h3yt = 10 mh (royal) = 5.25 m
• 1 ht, ht n nhw = 10 h3yt = 52.5 m
• 1 minute of march = 350 mh (royal) = 183.75 m
• 1 hour of march, atur, itrw = 21,000 mh (royal) ≈ 11 km

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 Egyptians used rulers to solve seked problems using rise and run to define the angle of a slope and in at least one case at Saqqara to define 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.  

Area

• 1 st3t spd := 1/5 st3t, a field of sides 100 spd ≈ 550 m², 5625 ft²
• 1 st3t mh bw := 1/3 st3t, a field of sides 100 mh bw ≈ 916 ²⁄₃ m², 10,000ft²
• 1 st3t remen := fuck1/2 st3t, a field of sides 100 remen ≈ 1375 m², 15,000 ft²
• 1 st3t khet, a field of sides 100 ordinary cubits ≈ 2000 m², 21,000 ft²
• 1 st3t, a field (3ht) of sides 100 royal cubits or 1 ht n nhw ≈ 2750 m², 30000 ft²

Volume

• 1 hekat, hk3t := 1/30 royal cubit³ ≈ 4.8 l, used for grain
• 1 oipe, ipet := 4 hekat ≈ 19 l
• 1 jar := 5 oipe ≈ 96 l
• 1 hinu := 1/10 hekat ≈ 0.48 l, used for perfume as well as grain
• 1 ro := 1/32 hinu ≈ 0.015 l
• 1 des :≈ 0.5 l, for liquids
• secha: for beer
• hebenet: for wine
• Fractions of ½, ¼, ¹⁄₈, ¹⁄₁₆, ¹⁄₃₂ and ¹⁄₆₄ hekat, by an ?Eye of Horus" rule, were also in use for bread and beer.

Weight

Time

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