Current approaches to the study of the ancient weight systems

The main issue in recent years of the near eastern metrological studies is the research on the interconnections of the different economic regional spheres and, above all, of the different weighing systems. It is now ascertained that the same major units, or very close major units, the talent and the mina, were widespread in the whole eastern Mediterranean, both in the Levant and in the Aegean. The different main Levantine shekels, the shekel of Khatti (11,75 g, h), the shekel of Ugarit (9,4 g., s), and the shekel of Karkemish (7,83 g, k) over time became widespread and interconnected with a simple ratio between them; they were counted also, in case of necessity, on a decimal and a sexagesimal basis. The various Mediterranean wool units were very close to each other. Thus, in the framework of a complex system of deep and important regional exchanges, the backbone of the Eastern Mediterranean world in the Bronze Age, the interconnections between various regional weighing systems are clear and intense. In this general and regional pattern, it is necessary to understand the fractures, the differences, the contradictions and the evolutions inside the ancient weighing phenomena, on the basis of the survived weighing tools. This is the basic idea of a historical metrology, focusing on each period; at the same time, in a diachronic perspective, it will help us to outline the complex links between the weighing systems of the ancient Mediterranean. In this view, some very elementary tools are needed which can be resumed as follows: Chronology – The date should be the first element to be considered when studying a balance weight set, or simply an archaeological assemblage; Typology – The main weight types of the Bronze Age Mediterranean are already known, but we still need an explicit definition of certain typological criteria such as durable material, high specific weight, distinguished shape. Archaeological context and function - the find spot and the associated material are very important to understand the different functions of a set. Weighing tools are indispensable instruments of quantification and calculation, and are therefore found in every kind of context, probably connected to many different functions: houses of various type (household production), work areas of different nature and size (craft and “industrial” production), storerooms (storage), harbours (trade and others activities), palaces and temples (public administrations and others activities). They invest every sphere of material and daily life. Sometimes, they also probably had symbolic meanings, as it has been suggested by their presence in funerary assemblages or in religious contexts.