An Ancient Relation between Units of Length and Volume Based on a Sphere

Elena Zapassky, Yuval Gadot, Israel Finkelstein and Itzhak Benenson

PLOS ONE, 2012, vol. 7, issue 3, 1-6

Abstract: The modern metric system defines units of volume based on the cube. We propose that the ancient Egyptian system of measuring capacity employed a similar concept, but used the sphere instead. When considered in ancient Egyptian units, the volume of a sphere, whose circumference is one royal cubit, equals half a hekat. Using the measurements of large sets of ancient containers as a database, the article demonstrates that this formula was characteristic of Egyptian and Egyptian-related pottery vessels but not of the ceramics of Mesopotamia, which had a different system of measuring length and volume units.

Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0033895

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033895

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