Lenght in Ancient Egypt

Measuring length in Ancient Egypt

For larger measures, inscriptions record a ‘river-unit’ (Egyptian itrw): an early source for this unit is the White Chapel of Senusret I at Karnak. It seems to correspond to 20,000 cubits (see below), in modern terms about 10.5 kilometres; the Greek term was skhoinos

New Kingdom (about 1550-1069 BC) written sources refer to a smaller unit, the ‘cord measure’ (Egyptian xt n nwH), corresponding to 100 cubits; a unit of 1000 cubits is also recorded.

The standard unit of length for smaller measures was the cubit, in Egyptian mH

Surviving cubit rods:

Middle Kingdom wooden rod fragments from Lahun and Abydos
New Kingdom wooden and stone rods placed in elite burials, some inscribed, some gifts from king
Late Period inscribed stone rods deposited in temples as offerings

(click on the pictures)

From these examples, it has been calculated that the cubit corresponded to 52 centimetres.

Divisions of the cubit:

One cubit = 7 palms (Egyptian Ssp)

One cubit = 28 fingers (Egyptian Dba)

The formalised rods found in New Kingdom (about 1550-1069 BC) burials include other divisions:

Small cubit = 6 palms
Shoulder (Egyptian rmn) = 5 palms
Dsr = 4 palms
Large span (pD aA) = 3 ½ palms
Small span (pD Sri) = 3 palms

These special divisions have not been found in accounts, and they may never have been used in practical measuring work.

A rare unit of measurement is the ‘pole’ (Egyptian nbi), apparently used by craftsmen and corresponding to about 65 cm