Weights and Measures
The standard unit of measure was the royal cubit (52.4 cm / 20.6 in), about the length of a man's forearm. This was divided into twenty-eight digits of thumb width. Each four digits made a palm width. The short cubit (44.9 cm / 17.7 in) was used by artists when making a grid. This was six palms, or twenty-four digits, The remen (74.07 cm / 29.2 in) was the length of the diagonal of a square measuring one royal cubit. The double remen, divided into forty equal units, and the ta, 100 royal cubits, were used in the surveying of land. A setjat was an area of 100 square cubits.
At different times, stone, pottery, and bronze were used as weights. The basic weight was the deben (about 93.3 g / 3.3 oz). The kite weighed nine to ten g (.3 to .35 oz). The deben was rounded off to ten kites. The kite measured only gold and silver.
Tables are as follows:
- 4 digits = 1 palm
- 6 palms = 1 short cubit
- 7 palms = 1 royal cubit
- 100 royal cubits = 1 ta
- 1 remen = (1 royal cubit)2 + (1 royal cubit)2
- 1 setjat = (10 royal cubits)2
- 1 deben = 10 kite
