Cubit
- Not to be confused with the quantum computing concept Qubit. For the bone, see Ulna. For other uses, see Cubit (disambiguation).
The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times.
The Egyptian hieroglyph for the cubit shows the symbol of a forearm. The Egyptian cubit was subdivided into 7 palms of 4 digits each; surviving cubit rods are between 52.3 and 52.9 cm (20.6 to 20.8 inches) in length.[1]
Over time, various cubits and variations on the cubit have measured:
- 6 palms, or 24 digits
- 7 palms, or 28 digits[1]
Etymology
The English word 'cubit' comes from Latin cubitum 'elbow', from the verb cubāre, -cumbĕre 'to lie down'; cf. 'recumbent'.[2]
The Egyptian royal cubit and Sumerian Nippur cubit
The earliest attested standard measure is from the Old Kingdom pyramids of Egypt and was called the royal cubit (mahe). The royal cubit was 523 to 529 mm (20.6 to 20.8 in) in length,[1] and was subdivided into 7 palms of 4 digits each, for a 28-part measure in total. Evidence for the royal cubit unit is known from Old Kingdom architecture, from at least as early as the construction of the Step Pyramid of Djoser from around 2,700 B.C.[3]
In 1916, during the last years of Ottoman Empire and in the middle of WWI, the German Assyriologist Eckhard Unger found a copper-alloy bar while excavating at Nippur. The bar dates from c. 2650 BC and Unger claimed it was used as a measurement standard. This irregularly formed and irregularly marked graduated rule supposedly defined the Sumerian cubit as about 518.6 mm.[4]
Other systems
The Indian Hasta and Thai sok are other traditional units based on the length of the forearm.
See also
- Anthropic units
- Ell
- History of measurement
- Systems of measurement
- Units of measurement
- Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement
References
- ^ a b c Dieter, Arnold (1991) Building in Egypt: pharaonic stone masonry Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-506350-9 p.251
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition, 1989; online version September 2011. s.v. 'cubit'
- ^ Lauer, Jean Philippe (1931) 'Étude sur Quelques Monuments de la IIIe Dynastie (Pyramide à Degrés de Saqqarah)' Annales du Service des Antiquités de L'Egypte IFAO 31:60 p. 59
- ^ Acta praehistorica et archaeologica Volumes 7–8. Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte; Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (Berlin, Germany); Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Berlin: Bruno Hessling Verlag 1976 p. 49
Bibliography
- Arnold, Dieter (2003). The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture. Taurus. ISBN 1-86064-465-1.
- Petrie, Sir Flinders Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh (1881)
External links
- Measurements of the Nippur Ell, now in a museum in Istanbul (Turkey).