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Weights and Measures in Ancient Egypt

First principles:

Measuring actions and systems vary in precision according to need and technology.

Until the modern period high precision is rare and difficult to repeat on a regular basis.

Therefore, a statement such as ‘the Egyptian cubit equals 52 centimetres’ raises questions such as:

All ancient, medieval and early modern measuring systems are likely to operate in practice at a level of precision and in a manner alien to those familiar to inhabitants of modern states.


 

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