Habba

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Barley grains, on which the weight unit of the Habba is based

The Habba ( Arabic حبة, DMG ḥabba  ' barley grain '), also called Habbe in European representations , is the basis for calculating a number of Arabic weight units . It is related to the Gran . Basically, the Habba was used as a coin weight, but in practice it was also used as a normal measure of weight.

Relation to other old weight units

According to the canonical tradition, a habba corresponds to 1/100 Mithqāl , but in practice it was 1/96 Mithqāl as a commodity weight. In the Middle Ages in Syria and Egypt, one dirham accounted for 60 habba, although it is not clear whether the silver dirham or the weight dirham is meant. In the 19th century the ratio between dirham and habba solidified to 1/48.

Ghāzī ad-Dīn Haidar, King of Awadh from 1814 to 1827 , gives the following relations in his Persian lexicon Haft Qulzum , which was translated into German by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall :

Conversion into the metric system

With a ratio of 1/60 between habba and dirham, the silver dirham of 2.97 grams results in a habba of 0.0495 grams and the weight dirham of 3.125 grams a habba of 0.0521 grams. Walther Hinz recommends using the round value of 0.05 grams for all practical purposes. In Egypt today the Habba is official = 0.065 grams.

literature

  • Walther Hinz : Islamic measures and weights, converted into the metric system. EJ Brill, Leiden / Cologne 1970, p. 12f.
  • Şükrü Özen: "Habbe" in Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi Vol. XIV, pp. 343b-346b. Digitized
  • E. v. Zambaur: "Ḥabba" in Encyclopedia of Islam Brill, Leiden, 1913–1936. Vol. II, pp. 196b-197a.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hinz: Islamic Measures and Weights. 1970, p. 13.
  2. ↑ Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall : Advertisement of the Siebenmeers: together with an index with words of Germanic languages ​​of related Persian ones. Carl Gerold, Vienna 1831, p. 94 digitized
  3. ↑ Hinz: Islamic Measures and Weights. 1970, p. 13.