Persian units of measurement

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Historical Persian weights and measures are one of many systems of measurement based on the Mesopotamian system first incorporated by the kings of Susa and Elam and later used by the Achaemenids.

Contents 1 Persian length 2 Persian weight 3 Persian volume 3.1 Length 3.2 Volumes

[edit] Persian length

1 finger:= *aiwas = 20 mm

1 hand: = five fingers = *pank'a *aiwas = 1 *dva = 100 mm

1 foot: = 3 hands = *trayas *dva = 1 *trayas = 300 mm

1 remen: = 4 hands = *k'atwa:r *dva = 1 *k'atwa:r = 400 mm

1 cubit: = 5 hands = *pank'a = 500 mm

1 great cubit = 6 hands = *(k)swacsh *dva = 1 *(k)swacsh = 600 mm

1 pace: = 5 feet = *pank'a *trayas = 1 *pank'a = 1.5 m

1 cane: = 10 feet = 6 cubits = 5 great cubits = 2 paces = *daca *trayas = 3m

1 chebel: = 40 great cubits = *daca *(k)swacsh = 24 m

1 parasang: = 250 chebel = 6 km = the distance a horse could walk in one hour.

1 mansion: = 1 stathmos: = 4 parasang = 1000 chebel = 24 km

[edit] Persian weight

1 Babylonian talent ≈ 1.43 Attic talents (exact ratio is 7 Babylonian talents = 10 Attic talents). (The talent was a measure of weight used for large amounts of coinage (bullion, bulk coin), rather than an individual coin.)

(derived from a list of revenues of the Great King of Persia in Herodotus III. 90-96 and cf., and A. R. Burn, Persia & the Greeks (New York, 1962), pp. 123-126.)

[edit] Persian volume

1 talent = 60 profane mina = 3000 shekels = 25000 g: approximate cube of 1 foot

1 sacred mina: = 60 shekles = 600 g: approximate cube of 1 hand

1 profane mina: = 50 shekels = 500 g: approximate cube of 3 fingers

1 shekel: = 8.3 g

The Persian system of weights and measures has had an important influence on other systems among others on that of old Greece.

[edit] Length

	Finger	¼ palm
	Hand palm	¼ foot
zereth	foot	½ cubit
arsani	ulna	52-64 cm
	Stock	2 paces, 6 ulnas
chebel		40 arsani
stadion		ca 264 m, predecessor of the Greek and Egyptian Stadions
parasang	Farsang	250 chebel	6 km
			= 6,23 km in the middle of 19th century
			= 10 km, in today's Iran and Turkey.
schoinos		root of the Greek and Egyptian units
mansion, stathmos		4 parsang

[edit] Volumes

chenica		= 1,32 l, the basic for the Greek cheonix