December 17, 2007 06:46AM
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Registered: 19 years ago
Posts: 1,989
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Hi Clive,
Clive: "why 28?"
The ancient Egyptian Early Dynastic records from the reign of Khasekhemwi, 15th year, contain a river height record of I cubit, 6 palms, 2 1/2 fingers, which means the early cubit had at least 7 palms. Measurements with fingers have the number of fingers ranging from 1...3, but no more than 3, which means the palm had at least 4 fingers, and most likely exactly 4 fingers, which is only natural, as the human hand has 4 fingers.
The ancient Egyptian cubit, palm and finger units are most likely derived from the human forearm, hand and the 4 fingers of the hand, as the hieroglyphic signs for these linear units are the 'forearm with palm of hand downwards' (cubit), 'hand without thumb' (palm), and the 'finger' (finger).
The reason the cubit has 28 fingers is a consequence of the hand having 4 fingers and the forearm from elbow to the tip of the middle finger having approximately 7 whole palm widths - 7 x 4 = 28 which is a simple answer to your question - "why 28?"
This explanation is consistent with what we know about OK language, and measurements. I posted this earlier, but I don't seem to have convinced anyone here on the Hall of Maat that it might be true, so I would welcome any other explanations you might know of that are more convincing.
One of the earliest written measurements with 'forearm with palm of hand downwards' (cubit), is from the early Dyn 4 tomb of Metjen, written with the 'forearm with palm of hand downwards' (cubit) and 2 x the 'coil of rope' ideogram, V1, used to write the number 100 (St)
The evidence from Early Dynastic records through to Dyn 5, clearly show the AE measured down to at least 1/4 of a finger (about 5mm), which implies the finger was further subdivided into much smaller units. The finger divisions of a NK architect's cubit rod for example, were divided up into 16 subdivisions, so we know for certain the ancient Egyptian finger unit could also have subdivisions.
We can be fairly certain the early cubit was about 524mm long, with 7 palms, and each palm divided into 4 fingers - the finger may have been further divided up into smaller subdivisions, the number depending on who the cubit rod was made for. Master masons, scribes, architects, textile workers etc. probably had their own variations of a cubit rod. By the NK, all kinds of cubit rods had been developed.
The historical records of the Israelites mention a measuring rod 6 cubits long (about 3m). (Ezekiel 40: 5) The cubit here was a cubit of 6 palms + 1 palm (the Hebrew text reads: "a measuring stick of six cubits, [each] a cubit and a handbreadth."). The cubit of 7 palms was used for sacred buildings, in this case the temple in Jerusalem, but for more mundane structures a shorter cubit of 6 palms was apparently used. An example is the stated length of the Siloam tunnel as 1200 cubits - its actual measured length is 533.1m, so the cubit used here was about 444mm. Other examples give a value of the cubit as about 445mm. If a 75mm palm is added to the 6 palm cubit the 7 palm cubit is about 52cm long, which is very close to the 52.4cm cubit the ancient Egyptians used for their sacred buildings, so it seems the 52cm, 7 palm cubit was fairly common in the ancient near east.
However, a 30 finger cubit marked on a statue of Gudea is 503mm long, and according to Herodotus (History, Book 1. para. 178), the Babylonian royal cubit was 3 fingers longer than the common cubit.
CT
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Clive |
December 04, 2007 08:32PM |
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Dave L |
December 04, 2007 08:35PM |
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Clive |
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C Wayne Taylor |
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Clive |
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Dave L |
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Dave L |
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Clive |
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Dave L |
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Clive |
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L Cooper |
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Clive |
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L Cooper |
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Greg Reeder |
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L Cooper |
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Clive |
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fmetrol |
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Dave L |
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Dave L |
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fmetrol |
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Dave L |
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fmetrol |
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fmetrol |
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fmetrol |
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Clive |
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Kanga |
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Clive |
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Anthony |
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Sirfiroth |
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Clive |
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Sirfiroth |
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Clive |
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Sirfiroth |
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Clive |
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Dave L |
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Dave L |
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Sirfiroth |
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Dave L |
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Sirfiroth |
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C Wayne Taylor |
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cladking |
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Clive |
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Jammer |
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MJ Thomas |
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Clive |
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Dave L |
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Clive |
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Morph |
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Morph |
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fmetrol |
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Morph |
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Clive |
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Jammer |
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MJ Thomas |
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Jammer |
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MJ Thomas |
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Dave L |
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Kanga |
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Anthony |
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MJ Thomas |
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fmetrol |
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Dave L |
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fmetrol |
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Jammer |
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fmetrol |
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fmetrol |
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Clive |
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fmetrol |
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fmetrol |
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MJ Thomas |
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fmetrol |
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MJ Thomas |
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fmetrol |
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C Wayne Taylor |
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fmetrol |
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MJ Thomas |
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fmetrol |
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MJ Thomas |
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Anthony |
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Anthony |
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MJ Thomas |
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C Wayne Taylor |
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MJ Thomas |
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Clive |
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MJ Thomas |
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Clive |
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Hermione |
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Clive |
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Morph |
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Clive |
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Clive |
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Jammer |
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Greg Reeder |
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Dave L |
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Dave L |
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Warwick L Nixon |
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Dave L |
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Warwick L Nixon |
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Dave L |
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Warwick L Nixon |
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Pistol |
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Pistol |
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MJ Thomas |
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Clive |
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Jammer |
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Clive |
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fmetrol |
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Clive |
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Dave L |
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fmetrol |
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Hermione |
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Jammer |
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Clive |
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Anthony |
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cladking |
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Anthony |
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cladking |
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fmetrol |
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Jammer |
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Clive |
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Warwick L Nixon |
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Clive |
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Warwick L Nixon |
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Jammer |
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Warwick L Nixon |
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Jammer |
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Warwick L Nixon |
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Kanga |
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Greg Reeder |
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fmetrol |
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Greg Reeder |
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fmetrol |
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L Cooper |
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Dave L |
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Greg Reeder |
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Clive |
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fmetrol |
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Clive |
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fmetrol |
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Clive |
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fmetrol |
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David Johnson |
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Clive |
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David Johnson |
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Clive |
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Chris Tedder |
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Chris Tedder |
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fmetrol |
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MJ Thomas |
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Clive |
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MJ Thomas |
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Anthony |
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L Cooper |
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Hermione |
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