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 in length.[1]
Over time, various cubits and variations on the cubit have measured:
Contents |
The English word 'cubit' comes from Latin cubitum 'elbow', from the verb cubāre, -cumbĕre 'to lie down'; cf. 'recumbent'.[2]
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]
The Indian Hasta and Thai sok are other traditional units based on the length of the forearm.