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	The first measures were the lengths of the ditches that bordered and defined the fields. Since people tend to pace off a distance differently, knotted cords were used to measure their sides and cord stretchers became the first surveyors.		The first measures were the lengths of the ditches that bordered and defined the fields. Since people tend to pace off a distance differently, knotted cords were used to measure their sides and cord stretchers became the first surveyors.

			=== References ===
			: ''Archaeology''Colin Renfrew
			: ''A History of Seafaring'' George F Bass
			: ''The Ancient Near East'' William H McNeil and Jean W Sedlar
			: ''The Epic of Gillgamesh''Translated by Andrew George
			: ''The Ancient Near East '' James B. Pritchard
			:: ''Bahrain through the Ages'',
			: Shaika Haya Ali Al Khalifa and Michael Rice
			: ''Prehistory and Protohistory of the Arabian Peninsula''
			: Dr. Muhammed Abdul Nayeem
			: ''Mesopotamia 10 The Sumerian Language'' Marie-Loise Thomsen
			: ''Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East" Michael Roaf
			: ''The Archaeology of Ancient China'' Chang
			: ''The Arabic Alphabet'' Nicholas Awde and Putros Samano
			: ''Gardiner Egyptian Grammar'' § 266 for names of Egyptian units
			: ''A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egytian'' Raymond O Faulkner
			: ''Ancient Egyptian'' Antonio Loprieno
			: ''Atlas of Ancient Egypt'' Baines and Ma'lek
			: ''Egypt's Making'' Michael Rice
			: ''Mathematics in the time of the Pharoahs'', Gillings, chapter 20.
			: ''Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture''
			: Somers Clarke and R. Englebach
			: InSearch of the Indo Europeans'' J. P. Mallory
			: Rivers in the Desert'' Nelson Glueck
			: ''From Alpha to Omega'' Anne H. Groton
			: ''Our Latin Heritage'' Hines
			: ''The Ten Books on Architecture'' Vitruvius
			: ''The Geography'' Claudias Ptolemy
			: ''The History of Herodotus''
			: ''Old Hittite Sentence Structure'' Silvia Luraghi
			: ''The Rise of the Greeks'', Michael Grant
			: ''A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest''
			: Alex Patterson
			: ''The Historical Roots of Elementary Mathematics''
			: Lucas N. h. Bunt, Phillip S.Jones, Jack D. Bedient
			: ''The World of Measurements'' H Arthur Klein
			: '' Norman's Parrallel of the Orders of Architecture'' R. A. Cordingley
			: ''The Medieval Machine'' Jean Gimpel
			: ''The Atlas of the Crusades''HJohnathan Riley Smith
			: ''The Plantagenet Chronicles'' Elizabeth Hallam
			: ''Medieval Warfare'' H.W. Koch

	=== Ancient Cultures sharing similar systems of measurement ===		=== Ancient Cultures sharing similar systems of measurement ===

Revision as of 00:31, 9 August 2005

Ancient Weights and Measures

Many of the ancient weights and measures used throughout history are variations on a common theme sharing the same system. Despite a number of different civilisations making adjustments to serve their own purposes the accuracy and agreement of definitions improved over time.

Measurements that are used to define property are often used to impose taxes or tithes resulting in there being one measure for ordinary transactions and another for royal or religious transactions. Though throughout history people and their various representatives in guilds and lobbys, have been very scrupulous in defending the value of their possessions, governments and religions are even more scrupulous about getting their cut.

The first measures were the lengths of the ditches that bordered and defined the fields. Since people tend to pace off a distance differently, knotted cords were used to measure their sides and cord stretchers became the first surveyors.

References

ArchaeologyColin Renfrew

A History of Seafaring George F Bass

The Ancient Near East William H McNeil and Jean W Sedlar

The Epic of GillgameshTranslated by Andrew George

The Ancient Near East James B. Pritchard

Bahrain through the Ages,

Shaika Haya Ali Al Khalifa and Michael Rice

Prehistory and Protohistory of the Arabian Peninsula

Dr. Muhammed Abdul Nayeem

Mesopotamia 10 The Sumerian Language Marie-Loise Thomsen

Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East" Michael Roaf

The Archaeology of Ancient China Chang

The Arabic Alphabet Nicholas Awde and Putros Samano

Gardiner Egyptian Grammar § 266 for names of Egyptian units

A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egytian Raymond O Faulkner

Ancient Egyptian Antonio Loprieno

Atlas of Ancient Egypt Baines and Ma'lek

Egypt's Making Michael Rice

Mathematics in the time of the Pharoahs, Gillings, chapter 20.

Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture

Somers Clarke and R. Englebach

InSearch of the Indo Europeans J. P. Mallory

Rivers in the Desert Nelson Glueck

From Alpha to Omega Anne H. Groton

Our Latin Heritage Hines

The Ten Books on Architecture Vitruvius

The Geography Claudias Ptolemy

The History of Herodotus

Old Hittite Sentence Structure Silvia Luraghi

The Rise of the Greeks, Michael Grant

A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest

Alex Patterson

The Historical Roots of Elementary Mathematics

Lucas N. h. Bunt, Phillip S.Jones, Jack D. Bedient

The World of Measurements H Arthur Klein

Norman's Parrallel of the Orders of Architecture R. A. Cordingley

The Medieval Machine Jean Gimpel

The Atlas of the CrusadesHJohnathan Riley Smith

The Plantagenet Chronicles Elizabeth Hallam

Medieval Warfare H.W. Koch

Ancient Cultures sharing similar systems of measurement

Later developments of the original systems

Unrelated systems

References

Measure for Measure, Richard Young and Thomas Glover, ISBN 1-889796-00-X.
Masse und Gewichte, Marvin A. Powell

External links

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