A question I have is regarding the creation of the unit, cubit. Why did the Egyptians decide to choose on a measurement that is not fixed in length? I acknowledge that the cubit is quite flexible, but I wonder what made it so convenient to dividing it into 7 palms or 28 fingers? In addition judging the terms "royal" cubit and "short" cubit, it seems to indicate that certain types of measurements are associated with pharaohs and power. Or was it tied more towards religious or cosmic beliefs, as speculated by the article as well?
Monday, September 23, 2024
Ancient Egyptian surveying - Article Response #7
After reading the article on Egyptian surveying, I was quite astonished by how peculiar their measurement system was. Although there's not doubt that the Egyptians were masters of architecture, I still can't wrap my head around the fact how they achieved such remarkable levels of measurements and alignments given their limited tools at the time. But now I have come to realize how important surveying was for Egyptians in order to construct monumental structures, such as pyramids and temples, as well as for agricultural purposes, like measuring and restoring land after the annual flooding of the Nile.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Good points, JJ! It's indeed incredible how ancient Egyptians achieved the level of accuracy to build amazing monumental structures with such limited tools. I also agree with you that perhaps some elaborations on royal cubit and short cubit in the article would be helpful.
ReplyDelete