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A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical TextsMesopotamian Weight Stones

A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts: Mesopotamian Weight Stones 4.1. MS 4576. A Kassite Reused Talent Weight with an Inscription in Sumerian The way in which weight numbers are formed in Sumerian and Old Babylonian cuneiform texts is shown in Old Babylonian metrological lists and tables for system M. (See Sec. 3.2 above and Sec. A5 b in App. 5.) In particular, it is shown by the metrological lists and tables that the units of the Sumerian/Old Babylonian system M were the talent, the mina, the shekel, and the barley-corn. The term used in cuneiform texts for the objects actually used in the weighing process is na = abnu ‘stone’, obviously for the reason that weights normally were made out of stone. Archaeological finds have shown that such weights were made chiefly in the shape of “ducks, spindles, bombs, ellipsoids, and barrels” (Powell, SNM (1977), 242). The form of a number of Mesopotamian weights in the Schøyen Collection will be shown below. MS 4576 (Fig. 4.1) is a massive object in the form of a small stone monument (a stele). Its dimensions are 38 cm ™ 23 cm ™ 15 cm. The stone is explicitly marked 1 gú ‘1 talent’, so that it is clear that it once http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical TextsMesopotamian Weight Stones

Part of the Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences Book Series
Editors: Friberg, Jöran
Friberg, Jöran
Springer Journals — Jan 1, 2007
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Publisher
Springer New York
Copyright
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007
ISBN
978-0-387-34543-7
Pages
127 –136
DOI
10.1007/978-0-387-48977-3_4
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

4.1. MS 4576. A Kassite Reused Talent Weight with an Inscription in Sumerian The way in which weight numbers are formed in Sumerian and Old Babylonian cuneiform texts is shown in Old Babylonian metrological lists and tables for system M. (See Sec. 3.2 above and Sec. A5 b in App. 5.) In particular, it is shown by the metrological lists and tables that the units of the Sumerian/Old Babylonian system M were the talent, the mina, the shekel, and the barley-corn. The term used in cuneiform texts for the objects actually used in the weighing process is na = abnu ‘stone’, obviously for the reason that weights normally were made out of stone. Archaeological finds have shown that such weights were made chiefly in the shape of “ducks, spindles, bombs, ellipsoids, and barrels” (Powell, SNM (1977), 242). The form of a number of Mesopotamian weights in the Schøyen Collection will be shown below. MS 4576 (Fig. 4.1) is a massive object in the form of a small stone monument (a stele). Its dimensions are 38 cm ™ 23 cm ™ 15 cm. The stone is explicitly marked 1 gú ‘1 talent’, so that it is clear that it once

Published: Jan 1, 2007

Keywords: Front Face; Measuring Vessel; Easy Step; Theme Text; Weight Stone

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