Area
The Israelite system of measuring area was fairly informal; the biblical text merely measures areas by describing how much land could be sown with a certain volume measure of seed, for example the amount of land able to be sown with 2 seahs of barley. The closest thing to a formal area unit was the yoke (Hebrew semed) (sometimes translated as acre), which referred to the amount of land that a pair of yoked oxen could plough in a single day; in Mesopotamia the standard estimate for this was 6480 square cubits, which is roughly equal to a third of an acre.
"Searah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. searot) hair, square 1/36 of a giris
"Adashah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. adashot) lentils, 1/9 of a giris
"Geris" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) split bean, a circle with a diameter of about 20mm
"Amah al amah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) square cubit 2,304 cm2 to 3,318 cm2
"Beit rova" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing ΒΌ of a kav 24m2 to 34.56m2
"Beit seah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing a seah 576 m2 to 829.4m2
"Beit kor" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing a kor 17,280m2 to 24,883m2
Read more about this topic: Biblical And Talmudic Units Of Measurement
Famous quotes containing the word area:
“Whatever an artist’s personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical. He acts from or upon other artists.”
—Willem De Kooning (b. 1904)
“During the Civil War the area became a refuge for service- dodging Texans, and gangs of bushwhackers, as they were called, hid in its fastnesses. Conscript details of the Confederate Army hunted the fugitives and occasional skirmishes resulted.”
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids
Sprouting despondently at area gates.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)