An official system of weights and measures was established in the ancient Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty (550-350 BCE). The shekel and mina ("profane" or "sacred") were units of both weight and volume. A shekel or mina weight was equal to the weight of that volume of water. The talent was a measure of weight used for large amounts of coinage. Some related units were used in Persia in the 19th century, and are still used in contemporary Iran.
| Persian unit | Persian name | Relation to previous unit | Metric Value | Imperial Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| digit finger | Persian: انگشت (angosht)[1] | ≈ 20 mm | ≈ 0.8 in | |||
| hand | dva | 5 aiwas | ≈ 100 mm | ≈ 4 in | ||
| foot | trayas | 3 dva | ≈ 300 mm | ≈ 1 foot | ||
| four-hands | remen | 4 dva | ≈ 400 mm | ≈ 16 in | ||
| cubit (five-hands) | pank'a dva | 5 dva | ≈ 500 mm | ≈ 20 in | ||
| great cubit (six-hands) | (k)swacsh dva | 6 dva | ≈ 600 mm | ≈ 2 ft | ||
| pace | pank'a | 5 trayas | ≈ 1.5 m | ≈ 5 ft | ||
| ten-foot | daca trayas | 2 pank'a | ≈ 3 m | ≈ 10 ft | ||
| hundred-foot | chebel | 8 daca trayas | ≈ 24 m | ≈ 80 ft | ||
| league, the distance a horse could walk in one hour. | parasang | 250 chebel | ≈ 6 km | ≈ 3.75 miles | ||
| mansion, one day's march on the Royal Road. | (Greek stathmos) | 4 or 5 parasang | ≈ 24–30 km | ≈ 14–18 miles | ||
| Asparsa | Asparsa[2] [3] [4] | -- Wow, isn't that the oldest Wayback Archive reference I have seen on Wikipedia. 1998 is crazy. --> | ≈ 187–195 m and = 360 cubits |
The shekel and mina ("profane" or "sacred") were units of both weight and volume. A shekel or mina weight was equal to the weight of that volume of water. Note that the values given for the mina do not match the definitions.
1 shekel = 8.3 ml (approximately 1 cubic aiwas).
1 profane mina = 50 shekel = 500 ml (approximately 27 cubic aiwas).
1 sacred mina = 60 shekel = 600 ml (approximately 1 cubic dva).
1 talent (volume) = 60 profane mina = 25 liters (approximately 1 cubic trayas).
The talent was a measure of weight used for large amounts of coinage (bullion, bulk coin), rather than an individual coin. Seven Babylonian talents equalled ten Attic talents, according to a list of the revenues of Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia) recorded in Herodotus.[5] [6]
' (karša) or ' (karšayā) is a unit of weight equal to 10 Babylonian shekels or Babylonian mina weighing approximately .[7]
Some related units were used in Persia in the 19th century, and are still used in contemporary Iran.
1 arsani or ulna = 52-64 cm.
1 arish = 38.27inches[8]
1 chebel = 40 arsani = 21-25 meters or 23-30 yards.
1 farsang (parasang) = 6.23 km in 19th century Persia.
1 farsang = 10 kilometers in modern Iran and Turkey.
1 chenica = 1.32 liters.