An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.

An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.

The modern metric system defines units of volume based on the cube. We propose that the ancient Egyptian system of measuring capacity employed a similar concept, but used the sphere instead. When considered in ancient Egyptian units, the volume of a sphere, whose circumference is one royal cubit, eq...

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Main Authors: Elena Zapassky, Yuval Gadot, Israel Finkelstein, Itzhak Benenson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3314674?pdf=render
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spelling doaj-5dc3cc39be6946468820c2e7d6b011772020-11-25T02:20:05ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032012-01-0173e3389510.1371/journal.pone.0033895An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.Elena ZapasskyYuval GadotIsrael FinkelsteinItzhak BenensonThe modern metric system defines units of volume based on the cube. We propose that the ancient Egyptian system of measuring capacity employed a similar concept, but used the sphere instead. When considered in ancient Egyptian units, the volume of a sphere, whose circumference is one royal cubit, equals half a hekat. Using the measurements of large sets of ancient containers as a database, the article demonstrates that this formula was characteristic of Egyptian and Egyptian-related pottery vessels but not of the ceramics of Mesopotamia, which had a different system of measuring length and volume units.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3314674?pdf=render
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Elena Zapassky
Yuval Gadot
Israel Finkelstein
Itzhak Benenson
spellingShingle Elena Zapassky
Yuval Gadot
Israel Finkelstein
Itzhak Benenson
An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Elena Zapassky
Yuval Gadot
Israel Finkelstein
Itzhak Benenson
author_sort Elena Zapassky
title An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.
title_short An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.
title_full An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.
title_fullStr An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.
title_full_unstemmed An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.
title_sort ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2012-01-01
description The modern metric system defines units of volume based on the cube. We propose that the ancient Egyptian system of measuring capacity employed a similar concept, but used the sphere instead. When considered in ancient Egyptian units, the volume of a sphere, whose circumference is one royal cubit, equals half a hekat. Using the measurements of large sets of ancient containers as a database, the article demonstrates that this formula was characteristic of Egyptian and Egyptian-related pottery vessels but not of the ceramics of Mesopotamia, which had a different system of measuring length and volume units.
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3314674?pdf=render
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