Measuring and Weighing in Ancient Times

Curator: Ofra Rimon
Exhibition Opening: December 2010

 

Cylinder weightsCylinder weightsThis exhibition examines the various fields associated with the subject of measurement, including time, volume, width, and length.

Ancient sundials represent the measurement of time, and inscriptions on archaeological finds represent ancient calendars and methods of counting the years.

 

Measuring volume was the most frequent measurement in commercial transactions. Weighing was saved for special goods, such as spices and medicines, as well as precious metals that served as means of payment. Measurment containers indicate the prevalence of measuring both liquid and dry volume, and incriptions on artifacts testify to volumetric units. 

 


Duck weights Duck weights One of the most interesting finds in the field of length measurement is an iron rod from the Byzantine period. The rod was discovered in the town of Shlomi, on Israel's northern border. It served as a unit of measurement of land for tax purposes. Its length is 2.59 meters, which represented 5 Roman cubits, according to the standard used in the Levant and in Egypt.

 

The subject of weighing is represented by various types of scales and weights that were used in and around Eretz-Israel from ancient periods untill the Early Islamic period. Just as in our own times, societal transitions frequently involve difficulties. The transition from the Ottoman weighing system to our current metric system is no different, and we have chose to integrate this subject into the exhibition. By including the issue of the transition to the metric system in Eretz-Israel, we are holistically examining this development of measurement systems that began some thousands of years go with the aformentioned weighing tools of the ancient people and cultures in this region.

 

Bronze weightsBronze weightsSince the uncovering of the remains of ancient construction and architecture lies at the focus of archaeological fieldwork, a special section of the exhibition is devoted to the archaeological measuring of ancient architecture. Measuring in archaeological fieldwork is of prime importanc as it enables proper documentation of finds and creates a foundation for the scientific analysis and publication of excavations. Accordingly we decided to integrate this perspective, too, into the exhibition, thereby permitting visitors to come into contact with the various aspects of measuring that constitute the work of the archaeologist.

 

To Exhibition Catalogue