By squaring the various linear measures, we obtain the corresponding superficial measure. As early as the time of the kings of Ur we meet with the 'field' (f/an) = 1800 'gardens' (sar) ; and the 'garden' (60 sq. cubits ?)=fi0 3(H.t Then the Jin ( 1 sq. cul)it ?) was divided into 180 she. Besides the great r/an of 1800 sar, there was originally a small firm of 180 sar; hence the great gan bears the name aUso of bur-gan ('ten gardens'). The Baby- Innians, moreover, gave designations to pieces of land according to the amount of seed-corn required to HOW them. Thus, e.ij., they would speak of a 6 ijur rornfield. This introduces us to —
Me<isHres of capacity. In Abraham's time there were already three systems sinmltaneously in u.se: the yur of 300 ia, the yur of 300 ia (} le«.s than the first, and standing to it in the same relation :us the gold mina of 50 shekels to the silver mina of 60 shekels), and the gur of 180 i-a. The last-named .system of reckon- ing, ace. to which the ia contained about 2 litres, was the oidy one in u.se in the New Bab. period. Now, since the Ileb. kor (i:) contained 180 iab {^?.), just as the Bab. gur contained 180
• K?»i)0(HftlIy throtif;)) the obsorvallon thut In the coiirAc of the appnn-'nt ruviihittiui of iIk< ci'lestlnl sphere, i^ of Iho uoliptle (/./•. 1 «lirn of Uie Zotliiio) lAkos exnetly two hours (j^ of a ftldereal »lny) to pasA before tlio oyo of one watching the slarrj- heavens by nitiht.
t It Is possltilc, tiowever. tlmt the lenirlli of side of the tinr was fi'i ureal eiiblts. tii whteh ease Its area wmiM l»o Mt'-oil sq. eilblls. while that .if tlie yin wouM Ije i^lsq. •ilMl,-, and of the «/ie J of a sij. cubll.
ia, it is clear that the Hebrews borrowed both the names and the divisions from the Baby- lonians. The Ileb. has even preserved the original an(.l fuller form of the name ia, namely iab. Besides the ia (see above for its origin) there were also larger sub-divisions of the gur or kor, such as the pi or ' ass's burden ' (imiru Ileb. i^h) = i gur ; the a.? (Ileb. Bath or Ephah) = .^^ gur ; the bar (Ileb. .SV'aft) = j',, gur, etc. In addition to this, the ia (originally about a litre) was divided into 60 parts, wliich, as in the case of the mina and the sar, were called yin. Since among the Hebrews the hin (r"i ) was the 60th part of the kor, as amongst the Babylonians the gin was the GOth part of the ia, pn must also be a Bab. loan-word. It found its way into Heb. through the medium of Egypt, where the hin was the fundamental measure ; and the name ephah also comes from Egypt.* Besides this division of the ia into 60 gin, we meet with another into 10 gnr (written sha).
Finally, in regard to weights, the talent (gun, Serait. perhaps f/a(/(7nri() contained 60 mina; (mana, Semit. manu) ; the mina 60 shekels (gin with the sign tu, iSemit. .iiilu 'weiglit,' and, as the original measure, iuddu 'cup') ; tlie sliekel 360 (180) she (or grains of corn). But, as happened so often in the Bab. metrology, there were several systems of weight in use simultaneously: [1] The heavy mina of about 990 gr. (the weight of the ia filled with water, see above). [2] The light mina, which weighed 5 of the heavy, i.e. c. 495 gr. (491-492 gr. in the case of the weight-s still extant). [3] A weight = J of the light mina (50 instead of 60 shekels) used specially for gold, the so-called gold mina, usually = 409-410 gr. Even c. B.C. 2000, however, there had come into use a gold mina of a higher (so-called royal) standard = 427i gr., as can be proved from a weiglit recently found at Nippur. [4] A weight about }, more than the light mina, the Bab. silver mina = 546 gr. Although the last- named is a derived and secondary weight, it is still very ancient, for its 60tli part, the silver shekel of 9-1 gr., answers exactly to the ancient Rgyp. ied, which is likewise = 9-1 gr. The Bab. ideogram for shekel has not only the pronuncia- tion Hiilu i'^}^') , but also iuddu (Arab, iada/i ' cup ' ) , and this iuddu is naturally the prototype of the Egyp. ied, which weighs exactly the same. Ten of these ied made up the Egyp. pound (dehen, not uten) of 10 sliekels (91 gr.), and in point of fact there was also a Bab. weifiht of 10 shekels, whose name was in Sumer. yarasli\ and in Semit. tibnu, but which was also designated absolutely abnu 'stone' (cf. 2 S H'M ^'^P0 m, and Pr lOH d-? 'la.s^ Bab. aban kisi). Three of these made up a lialf- mina, and six a mina.
In regard to Bab. Art Carcliitecture, sculpture, engraving, etc.), our former conceptions have been fundamentally clianiicd by the excavations at Telloh and Niffer (in South and Central Baby- lonia). From these we see that as early a.s it.c. 4000-3000 the bloom of art in Babylon was such as was in some respects never attained in later days, — a case quite .analogous to that of Egypt in the era of the Pyramids. Under the older kings of SirguUa the style of art is of conr.se still some- what awkward and crude, but under the older I'atesi it shows a high finish, e.g. in the carving of the beautiful silver Viuses of En-tiinena {e. a c. 3HO0) ; and the cylinder-seals and reliefs of the old kings of Ag.ade (Akkad), c, li.c. 3500, are still more finely executed. At Nippur, prior to li.c. 4000, architects already iLsed the arch of burned brick, which formerly was supposed to have originated at a