A ratl (رطل) is a medieval Middle Eastern unit of measurement found in several historic recipes. The term was used to measure both liquid and weight (around a pound and a pint in 10th century Baghdad, but anywhere from 8 ounces to 8 pounds depending on the time period and region).[1]
While there were a variety of names for different shapes of cups and mugs in use at the time, the ratl seems to have had a position roughly equivalent to a British pint in that the name of the drinking-vessel also implied a standardized measurement as opposed to merely the object's shape, in both 10th century Baghdad and 13th century Andalusia.[2] However, those standardized measures varied both by region and by purpose: the spice-measuring ratl, the flax-measuring ratl, the oil-measuring ratl, and the quicksilver-measuring ratl all differed from each other.[3]
The ratl was a part of a sequence of measurements ranging from a grain of barley through the dirham (used as a common point of reference in both medieval European and Middle Eastern regions) on up to the Sa (Islamic measure).
1 Mudd=8/6 ratl. 1 Sá =4 mudd=5+1/3 ratl.
1 Ratl =128+4/7 dirham or 128 dirham or 130 dirham.
1 Uqiyyah=40 dirham.
1 Nashsh=20 dirham.
7 mithqal =10 dirham.
1 mithqal=72 grains of average barely both edges cut.
1 mithqal=20 qirat قِيراط of makkah=21+3/7 qirat of Damascus.
1 dirham=14 qirat of makkah=15 qirat of Damascus.
1 mil= 4000 zira. 1 wasq=60 sá.
In al-Warraq's tenth-century cookbook, different regions used some of the same terms to mean different units of measurement and the relationships between them. Some of those relationships are described below.
| Dirham | 8 daniq | 7 mithqal (dinar)=10 dirham | |
| Uqiyyah | 40 dirhams | ||
| Ratl misri or fulfuli / spice measure | 8 uqiyyahs | 144 to 150 dirhams(Between 413 and 436 g) | |
| Jarwi ratl / oil measure | 312 dirhams (Between .9 and .95 kg) | ||
| Ratl shami | 8 Baghdadi ratls (about 8 lb) |