Appendix: Weights And Measures
In the preceding pages the equivalence of the qa in modern English measures has been given in accordance with the calculations of Dr. Oppert. Other scholars, however, would assign to it a different value, identifying it with the Hebrew qab and making it equal to about two litres. This, indeed, seems to have been its value in the age of Abraham, but in the later days of Babylonian history a different system certainly prevailed.
Weights.
| 360 se ("grains") | 1 shekel |
| 60 shekels | 1 maneh (mana) |
| 60 manehs | 1 talent |
The silver maneh was equivalent to £9, the shekel being 3s., while the gold maneh was ten times its value. The maneh was originally a weight more than one kind of which was in use: (1) The heavy maneh of 990 grammes; (2) the light maneh of 495 grammes; (3) the gold maneh (for weighing gold) of 410 grammes; and (4) the silver maneh of 546 grammes. At Sippara, however, the heavy maneh weighed 787 grammes; the light maneh, 482 grammes; and the gold maneh, 392 grammes; while the standard maneh fixed by Dungi weighed 980 grammes. The maneh of Carchemis contained 561 grammes.
Measures of Capacity.
| 1 qa (Heb. qab) | 1.66 litres |
| 1 pi or ardeb (Heb. homer) | 36 qas |
| 1 bar (Heb. se'ah) | 60 qas |
| 1 homer in Assyria | 60 qas |
| 1 gur (Heb. kor) | 180 qas |
In the Abrahamic age other systems were in use in Babylonia according to which the gur sometimes contained 360 qas and sometimes 300 qas.
The tonnage of ships was reckoned by the gur.
Measures of Length.
| 1 uban or finger-breadth (divided into 180 parts) | 16.6 millimetres |
| 30 finger-breadths | 1 ammat or cubit (498 mm.) |
| 2 cubits | 1 great cubit (996 mm.) |
| 6 great cubits | 1 qanu or reed |
| 2 reeds | 1 gar |
| 60 gars | 1 soss or stade |
| 30 sosses | 1 kasbu or parasang (21 kilometres) |
| 2 kasbus | 1 great kasbu |
Superficial Measures.
In the Abrahamic age 180 se were probably equivalent to 1 gin, 60 gin to one sar or “garden,” 1,800 sar to 1 feddân (padânu) or “acre.” The latter was called bur-gan in Sumerian, or “10 acres,” to distinguish it from a smaller acre, which contained only 180 sar.
Time was reckoned by the kasbu or “double hour,” and in early times the weight was divided into three watches of 2 kasbus or 4 hours each. The months were originally lunar, and consisted of 30 days, an intercalary month being inserted in the calendar every six years. The zodiac was divided into 360 degrees.
Mathematics were based upon a sexagesimal system, sixty, called the soss, being the unit. The ner was equivalent to 10 sosses and the sar to 6 ners.