Deben (measure)

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The deben is an ancient Egyptian measure of weight that appears from the Old Kingdom .

Changes in value

In the course of history, the concrete value changes considerably. In the Old Kingdom the weights are known, weighing 13.6 g. The weights of Sesostris I from Lisht, from the Middle Kingdom, weigh the same . Under Sesostris III. and Amenemhet III. (also Middle Kingdom) one also knows deben weights, which are heavier and relate specifically to the metals gold and copper. Hence they are called copper deben and gold deben, the ones for copper being twice as heavy as those for gold, approx. 23.7 g. In the Papyrus Boulaq 18 (13th Dynasty) a distinction is made between a large and a small deben. In the New Kingdom there is a uniform Deben weight that weighs 91 g and is divided into 10 qedet.

See also

• Ancient weights and measures (ancient Egypt)

literature

• Sven P. Vleeming : Measures and weights in the demotic texts. In Wolfgang Helck, Wolfhart Westendorf (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie. Volume III, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-447-02100-4 , pp. 1209-1214.
• Wolfgang Helck : Measures and weights [Pharaonic times]. In Wolfgang Helck, Wolfhart Westendorf (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie. Volume III, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-447-02100-4 .
• Jean Vercoutter : Les poids de Mirgissa et le "standart-cuivre" au Moyen Empire. In Erika Endesfelder et al. (Ed.): Egypt and Kush. Writings on the history and culture of the ancient Orient. No. 13, (Festschrift Fritz Hintze), Berlin 1977, pp. 437–445.