These attractive stone pieces are a set
of weights
from ancient Babylon, and are amongst
the first
standardized weights and measures the
world
had seen. Weights in this form were used
throughout the Levantine area, and were
officially moderated to ensure fair play
among
tradesmen and their customers. Each is
formed in
the manner of a suck with its head
resting on its
back. The largest and middle-sized
example are
well-preserved, whereas the smallest had
been
rubbed and worn considerably more.
Determining the exact weight of these
pieces has
been a long-running debate among
academics.
The Babylonian system was based upon
shekels,
minas and talents. Sixty shekels made up
a mina
(= one pound), and sixty minas equalled
a talent.
Weights were notched to indicate their
weight, as
can be seen here, although the markings
are so
complex that they might have been used
(or
reused) as seals. They were often marked
with
the date and the name of the owner, or
the
presiding monarch (such as the King
Nebuchadrezzar II duck weight in the
British
Museum). The significance of the weights
has
questioned. The technical weight of a
mina is
7550 grains (a double mina being 15100
grains),
and slightly less under the ancient
Sumerian
system. This and the weights of the
other
measures has been related directly to
volumetric
formulae used in ancient construction of
such
notable monuments as the pyramids of
Giza, as
well as lunisolar calendrical
measurements.
These are important and attractive
pieces of
ancient art which have a great deal to
offer to the
epigrapher or collector.
