{"id":39,"date":"2018-10-10T11:32:02","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T11:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2019-05-03T10:56:52","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T10:56:52","slug":"glossary-of-measures-weights-and-monetary-units","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/database\/glossary-of-measures-weights-and-monetary-units\/","title":{"rendered":"6. Glossary of Measures, Weights, and Monetary Units"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Definitions of weights and measures have changed across time and place in Egyptian history. The following is primarily based on the definitions offered by the Mamluk-era author al-Qalqashand\u012b as interpreted by Walther Hinz<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> and Eliyahu Ashtor,<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> and corroborated by the internal evidence in the <em>Villages of the Fayyum<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2>Fractions<\/h2>\n<p>Al-N\u0101buls\u012b uses combinations of the following terms to designate fractions of all types of units, including monetary units, units of volume and units of length and surface:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>ni\u1e63f<\/em>= half, 1\/2.<\/li>\n<li><em>thulth<\/em>= third, 1\/3.<\/li>\n<li><em>rub\u02bf<\/em>= quarter, 1\/4.<\/li>\n<li><em>suds<\/em>= sixth, 1\/6 (and also half a sixth, 1\/12).<\/li>\n<li><em>thumn<\/em>= eighth, 1\/8 (and also half an eighth, 1\/16).<\/li>\n<li><em>q\u012br\u0101\u1e6d<\/em>= carat, 1\/24 (and also half a carat 1\/48; a quarter of a carat, 1\/96).<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>\u1e25abba<\/em>= literally \u2018grain\u2019, 1\/72.<\/li>\n<li><em>d\u0101niq<\/em>= From Persian, d\u0101ng, literally \u2018a sixth\u2019, 1\/144.<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Dry Measures (Volume)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em>ardabb<\/em>= about 90 liters, holding approximately 69.6\u00a0kg. of wheat and 56\u00a0kg. of barley.<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>wayba<\/em>= 1\/6 <em>ardabb<\/em>\u00a0= 15 liters, or 11.6\u00a0kg. of wheat.<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Length<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em>dhir\u0101\u02bf<\/em> (also <em>dhir\u0101\u02bf al-\u02bfamal<\/em>)\u00a0= cubit\/ work cubit\u00a0= 65.6\u00a0cm.<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>qa\u1e63aba<\/em> (lit. \u2018cane\u2019, or \u2018reed\u2019)\u00a0= 6 <em>dhir\u0101\u02bf<\/em>= about 3.9\u00a0m.<a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>qab\u1e0da<\/em> (lit. \u2018a fist\u2019s width\u2019)\u00a0= 1\/6 <em>dhir\u0101\u02bf<\/em>= about 10.9\u00a0cm.<a href=\"#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Square Measures (Area)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em>fadd\u0101n<\/em> (pl.<em> fad\u0101d\u012bn<\/em>; lit. \u2018Yoke of oxen\u2019)\u00a0= \u2018feddan\u2019\u00a0= 6,368\u00a0sq. m.<a href=\"#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref10\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Weight<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em>qin\u1e6d\u0101r<\/em>= 45\u00a0kg\u00a0= 100 ra\u1e6dl.<a href=\"#_ftn11\" name=\"_ftnref11\">[11]<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>ra\u1e6dl<\/em>= 450\u00a0gr\u00a0= 144 Dirham.<a href=\"#_ftn12\" name=\"_ftnref12\">[12]<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>qin\u1e6d\u0101r jarw\u012b<\/em>= 100 <em>ra\u1e6dl jarw\u012b<\/em>\u00a0= 96.7\u00a0kg. A\u00a0weight measure used in Egypt for measuring oil, sugar, and other types of commodities.<a href=\"#_ftn13\" name=\"_ftnref13\">[13]<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>ma\u1e6dar<\/em> \u2014 (a measurement unit of liquids)\u00a0= approximately 16\u201317\u00a0kg.<a href=\"#_ftn14\" name=\"_ftnref14\">[14]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Monetary Units<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>d\u012bn\u0101r= Dinar\u00a0= gold coin, with canonical weight of 4.233\u00a0g.<a href=\"#_ftn15\" name=\"_ftnref15\">[15]<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>dirham<\/em>= Dirham\u00a0= silver coin, with canonical weight of 3.125\u00a0gr. In the Villages of the Fayyum, however, the low quality waraq or black dirham is always intended.<a href=\"#_ftn16\" name=\"_ftnref16\">[16]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Exchange Rate<\/h2>\n<p>The standard exchange rate used uniformly throughout the treatise is 1 dinar\u00a0= 40 <em>(waraq<\/em>) dirhams, an exchange rate referred to as the \u2018exchange rate of Cairo\u2019.<a href=\"#_ftn17\" name=\"_ftnref17\">[17]<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Walther Hinz, I<em>slamische Masse und Gewichte: Umgerechnet ins Metrische System<\/em>, Handbuch der Orientalistik,\u00a01 (Leiden: Brill, 1970).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Eliyahu Ashtor, \u2018Mak\u0101y\u012bl and Maw\u0101z\u012bn\u2019, <em>EI2<\/em>, vi, 117\u201321.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> According to Hinz, <em>q\u012br\u0101\u1e6d<\/em>\u00a0= 1\/32 <em>qada\u1e25<\/em> of wheat (Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte,<\/em> p.\u00a050), but in Villages of the Fayyum the <em>q\u012br\u0101\u1e6d<\/em> appears throughout as equal to 1\/24. On <em>q\u012br\u0101\u1e6d<\/em> as a 1\/24 share in all contexts, see Cuno, <em>The Pasha\u2019s Peasants<\/em>, p.\u00a0210; Warren\u00a0C. Schulz, \u2018The Mechanisms of Commerce\u2019, in\u00a0<em>The New Cambridge History of Islam<\/em>: Volume 4, Islamic Cultures and Societies to the End of the Eighteenth Century, ed.\u00a0by Robert Irwin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp.\u00a0332\u201354 (p.\u00a0347).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> On<em> \u1e25abba<\/em> and <em>d\u0101niq<\/em> as fractions, rather than units of weight, see Avram L. Udovitch, \u2018Fals\u2019, <em>EI2<\/em>, ii,\u00a0768\u201369; Cuno, <em>The Pasha\u2019s Peasants<\/em>, p.\u00a0210. For a more literal interpretation, see Hinz, Islamisch Masse und Gewichte, pp.\u00a011, 12.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte<\/em>, p.\u00a039; Ashtor, \u2018Mak\u0101y\u012bl and Maw\u0101z\u012bn\u2019. According to an anecdote narrated by al-Maqr\u012bz\u012b in the fifteenth century, the ardabb of the Fayyum was 50 per cent larger than that of Cairo; al- Maqr\u012bz\u012b, <em>Kit\u0101b al-mawa\u0304\u02bfiz\u0323<\/em>, ed.\u00a0by Sayyid, i, 273. This is not mentioned by al-N\u0101bulus\u012b or corroborated by any other source. Note that the ardabb was conceptually defined as the volume of seed of wheat required to sow a standard plot feddan of wheat, in the same way one Roman artaba was required to sow a Roman aroura.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte,<\/em> p.\u00a052.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> Hinz, \u2018dhir\u0101\u02bf\u2019, <em>EI<\/em>2, ii, 232.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a> Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte<\/em>, p.\u00a063.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte<\/em>, p.\u00a063. More precisely, \u2018from the bottom of the hand to the tip of the extended thumb\u2019; Cuno, <em>The Pasha\u2019s Peasants<\/em>, p.\u00a0209.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn10\">[10]<\/a> Bosworth, s.v. \u2018Mi\u1e63\u0101\u1e25a\u2019, <em>EI2<\/em>. Borsch (<em>The Black Death<\/em>, p.\u00a048) has recently argued that in the Mamluk era, an Egyptian feddan was equal to roughly 1.4 acres (i.e., 5,665\u00a0sq. m.). We stick with the traditional interpretation, which is based on the definition of the feddan as 400 square qa\u1e63aba, as indicated in literary and documentary sources. In an eleventh-century document from the Fayyum, a surface area of 2 feddans is measured to be 50 qa\u1e63aba by 16 qa\u1e63aba, i.e., 800 square qa\u1e63aba; Gaubert and Mouton, <em>Hommes et villages<\/em>, p.\u00a0112 no. 23.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref11\" name=\"_ftn11\">[11]<\/a> Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte<\/em>, p.\u00a024.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref12\" name=\"_ftn12\">[12]<\/a> Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte<\/em>, p.\u00a029.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn13\">[13]<\/a> Hinz,<em> Islamische Masse und Gewichte<\/em>, p.\u00a025.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref14\" name=\"_ftn14\">[14]<\/a> Ashtor, \u2018Mak\u0101y\u012bl and Maw\u0101z\u012bn\u2019; Reinhart Dozy, <em>Suppl\u00e9ment aux dictionnaires arabes<\/em>, 2\u00a0vols (Leiden: Brill, 1881), ii,\u00a0600.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref15\" name=\"_ftn15\">[15]<\/a> Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte,<\/em> p.\u00a011.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref16\" name=\"_ftn16\">[16]<\/a> Hinz, <em>Islamische Masse und Gewichte<\/em>, p.\u00a029. While mostly the text refers to \u2018dirhams\u2019, without specifying the type of coin, the text contains a few references to waraq dirhams and to \u2018black dirhams\u2019, both terms designating the low quality silver coins in circulation in the Ayyubid period; Warren C. Schultz, \u2018The Monetary History of Egypt, 642\u20131517\u2019, in\u00a0<em>The Cambridge History of Egypt<\/em>, i: Islamic Egypt, 640\u20131517, ed.\u00a0by Carl\u00a0F. Petry (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp.\u00a0318\u201338 (p.\u00a0332). Since the waraq dirhams mentioned are said to have the same exchange rate to the dinar of 1:40 observed elsewhere in the treatise, it is likely that all references to dirhams in the treatise are to waraq, or black dirhams.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref17\" name=\"_ftn17\">[17]<\/a> Such an exchange rate also appears in many of the Geniza documents that Goitein analyzed. See Shlomoh\u00a0D. Goitein, \u2018The Exchange Rate of Gold and Silver Money in Fatimid and Ayyubid Times: A\u00a0Preliminary Study of the Relevant Geniza Material\u2019,\u00a0<em>Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient<\/em>, 8\u00a0(1965), 1\u201346 (pp.\u00a023, 28, 43).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Definitions of weights and measures have changed across time and place in Egyptian history. The following is primarily based on the definitions offered by the Mamluk-era author al-Qalqashand\u012b as interpreted by Walther Hinz[1] and Eliyahu Ashtor,[2] and corroborated by the internal evidence in the Villages of the Fayyum. Fractions Al-N\u0101buls\u012b uses combinations of the following [&#8230;] <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/database\/glossary-of-measures-weights-and-monetary-units\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"parent":14,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-39","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions\/211"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/ruralsocietyislam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}