Qintār
The Qintār ( Arabic قنطار, DMG qinṭār ), also known as Kintar , Kantar or Quantar in European representations , was a weight measure used in several Islamic countries and in the Mediterranean area , which is derived from the Latin word Centenarius ("containing a hundred"). In principle, 1 Qintār = 100 Ratl is. The weight unit of the Cantaro used in the Levant trade is derived from it. Leopold Carl Bleibtreu gives the weight of the Qintār at 57.818 kg, but it was very different in the individual countries depending on the size of the Ratl. In Egypt it is still used today as Qintār fulfulī .
Egypt
In Egypt three types of qintar were distinguished:
- Qintār fulfulī , hundredweight of spices. It was mainly used in Alexandria and weighed 45 kg. Today officially: 1 Qintār fulfulī = 44.928 kg.
- Qintār laithī . This probably goes back to the Egyptian legal scholar Laith ibn Saʿd and weighed 62 kg.
- Qintar jarvi = 96.7 kg.
Syria
In Damascus the qintār weighed an average of 185 kg, in the 17th century it was increased to 150 Ottoman oqqa , which corresponds to 192.4 kg. Eduard Döring provides the following information for Damascus: g
- 1 cantar = 100 rotoli = 6000 ounces
- 1 Rotolo = 400 Metikal = 600 Pesi = 1.785 Kilograms = 3.174 Turkish Rotolo .
- 1 cantar = 178.5 kilograms.
In Aleppo and Hama , the qintār averaged 228 kg.
Yemen
In Loheia (port city in Yemen ) the Qintār corresponded to 5 Faranzala = 100 Rottel (heavy) = 46.13712 kilograms.
Iran
A work written around 1440 measures the Qintār at 30 men , so Hinz estimates it at 57 kg.
Asia Minor
In the realm of Rumseldschuken and under the Ottomans the qantar consisted of 100 Lodra each with 176 dirhams and therefore weighed 56.443 kg.
Morocco
A distinction was made between the ordinary, the customs and the large kintar as well as by region.
- Fès 1 Kintar = 100 Artal = 50.802 kilograms
- Mogador 1 Kintar = 53.524 kilograms
- 1 Kintar-el-a rub = 75 Artal = 38.102 kilograms
- Asfi 1 large kintar = 125 Artal = 63.503 kilograms (for meat , butter , fruit , oil and soap ; also wax and iron )
- Rabat , Salé 1 large kintar = 150 Artal = 76.203 kilograms
- 1 inch kintar = 45.311 kilograms (for wool , oil, copper , leather )
Comparison of 5 large kintars (discount, sale) = 6 large kintars (Asfi)
Rubber trade in Guinea
The rubber trade was in Guinea
- 1 Kantar / Quantar = 5 Gamellen = 979 kilograms
In this trade, the term had a double meaning. Kantar was the term used for measuring when loading ships with rubber. Even if the dimensions could vary for each port and ship, the standard always had a square cutout at the bottom of about 1½ Parisian feet by 1 Parisian foot. A board closed the bottom with rubber during the filling. A so-called sleeve made of sailcloth reached to the bottom of the ship and then, after removing the board, let the goods slide into the storage space.
literature
- Walther Hinz : Islamic measures and weights: converted into the metric system. EJ Brill, Leiden / Cologne 1970. pp. 24-27.
- M. Mendelssohn: Handbook of coin, measure and weight customers taking into account the new coin and weight system, with detailed reduction tables. Horvath, Potsdam 1859, p. 83.
- Christian Noback, Friedrich Eduard Noback: Complete paperback of the coin, measure and weight ratios, government papers, exchange and banking and the customs of all countries and trading venues. Volume 1, FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1851, p. 245.
supporting documents
- ^ Leopold Carl Bleibtreu : Handbook of coin, measure and weight and the exchange, government paper, banking and stock system of European and non-European countries and cities. Published by J. Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1863, p. 405
- ↑ Hinz: Islamic Measures and Weights . 1970, p. 24f.
- ^ Eduard Döring: Handbook of coin, exchange, measure and weight. Verlag J. Hölscher, Koblenz 1862, p. 162
- ↑ Hinz: Islamic Measures and Weights . 1970, p. 26.
- ↑ Gustav Wagner, Friedrich Anton Strackerjan: Compendium of the coin, measure, weight and exchange rate relationships of all states and trading cities on earth. Teubner Publishing House, Leipzig 1855, p. 275
- ↑ Hinz: Islamic Measures and Weights . 1970, p. 26.
- ↑ Hinz: Islamic Measures and Weights . 1970, p. 26.
- ^ Johann Georg Büsch: Johann Georg Büsch's all writings. Volume 8, B. Ph. Bauer, Vienna 1816, p. 233
- ^ Eduard Döring: Handbook of coin, exchange, measure and weight. Verlag J. Hölscher, Koblenz 1862, p. 215
- ^ Christian Noback , Friedrich Eduard Noback : Complete paperback of the coin, measure and weight relationships. Volume 1, FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1851, p. 314