Ancient measures of length, area, mass. The meaning of ancient measures of quantities in Rus'

Since ancient times, the measure of length and weight has always been a person: how far he can stretch his arm, how much he can lift on his shoulders, etc.

The system of Old Russian measures of length included the following basic measures: verst, fathom, arshin, elbow, span and vershok.

ARSHIN- an ancient Russian measure of length, equal in modern terms to 0.7112 m. Arshin was also the name given to a measuring ruler, on which divisions in vershoks were usually applied.

There are different versions of the origin of the arshin measure of length. Perhaps, initially, “arshin” meant the length of a human step (about seventy centimeters, when walking on the plain, at an average pace) and was the base value for other major measures determining lengths, distances(fathom, verst). The root "AR" in the word a rsh i n - in the Old Russian language (and in other neighboring ones) means "EARTH", "surface of the earth", and indicates that this measure could be used in determining the length of the path traveled on foot. There was another name for this measure - STEP. In practice, counting could be done in pairs of steps of an adult ("small fathoms"; one-two - one, one-two - two, one-two - three...), or in threes ("official fathoms"; one-two-three - one, one-two-three - two...), and when measuring small distances in steps, step-by-step counting was used. Subsequently, they also began to use, under this name, an equal value - the length of the arm.

For small measures of length the basic value was the measure used from time immemorial in Rus' - “span” (since the 17th century - a length equal to a span was called differently - “quarter arshin”, “quarter”, “chet”), from which, by eye, it was easy to get smaller shares - two vershok (1/2 span) or vershok (1/4 span).

Merchants, when selling goods, as a rule, measured it with their arshin (ruler) or quickly - measuring “from the shoulder”. To exclude measurements, the authorities introduced, as a standard, the “government arshin,” which is a wooden ruler with metal tips with a state mark riveted at the ends.

STEP- average length of a human step = 71 cm. One of the oldest measures of length.

SPAN(pyatnitsa) - an ancient Russian measure of length. SMALL SPAND (they said - “span”; since the 17th century it was called “quarter”) - the distance between the ends of the spread thumb and index (or middle) fingers = 17.78 cm.

BIG SPAN- the distance between the ends of the thumb and little finger (22-23 cm).

FUCKING FLIP(“span with somersault”, according to Dahl - “span with somersault”) - span with the addition of two joints of the index club = 27-31 cm

Our old icon painters measured the size of icons in spans: “nine icons - seven spans (1 3/4 arshins). The Most Pure Tikhvin on gold - pyadnitsa (4 vershoks). Icon of St. George the Great deeds of four spans (1 arshin)"

VERST- Old Russian travel measure (its early name was “field”). This word originally referred to the distance traveled from one turn of the plow to another during plowing. The two names have long been used in parallel, as synonyms. There are known mentions in written sources of the 11th century. In manuscripts of the 15th century. there is an entry: “field of 7 hundred and 50 fathoms” (750 fathoms long). Before Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, 1 verst was considered 1000 fathoms. Under Peter the Great, one verst was equal to 500 fathoms, in modern terms - 213.36 X 500 = 1066.8 m.

"Verstoy" was also called a milestone on the road.

The size of the verst changed repeatedly depending on the number of fathoms included in it and the size of the fathom. The Code of 1649 established a “boundary mile” of 1 thousand fathoms. Later, in the 18th century, along with it, a “travel mile” of 500 fathoms (“five hundredth mile”) began to be used.

Mezhevaya Versta- Old Russian unit of measurement equal to two versts. A verst of 1000 fathoms (2.16 km) was widely used as a boundary measure, usually when determining pastures around large cities, and on the outskirts of Russia, especially in Siberia, and to measure distances between populated areas.

The 500-fathom verst was used somewhat less frequently, mainly for measuring distances in the European part of Russia. Long distances, especially in Eastern Siberia, were determined in days of travel. In the 18th century boundary versts are gradually being replaced by travel ones, and the only verst in the 19th century. there remains a “travel” mileage equal to 500 fathoms.

SAZHEN- one of the most common length measures in Rus'. There were more than ten fathoms of different purposes (and, accordingly, size). “Makhovaya fathom” is the distance between the ends of the fingers of an adult man’s widely spaced hands. “Oblique fathom” is the longest: the distance from the toe of the left foot to the end of the middle finger of the raised right hand. Used in the phrase: “he has slanting fathoms in his shoulders” (meaning - hero, giant)

This ancient measure of length was mentioned by Nestor in 1017. The name sazhen comes from the verb to reach (reach) - as far as one could reach with one’s hand. To determine the meaning of the ancient Russian fathom, a major role was played by the discovery of a stone on which the inscription was carved in Slavic letters: “In the summer of 6576 (1068) of the 6th day of indictment, Prince Gleb measured... 10,000 and 4,000 fathoms.” From a comparison of this result with the measurements of topographers, a fathom value of 151.4 cm was obtained. The results of measurements of temples and the value of Russian folk measures coincided with this value. There were fathomed measuring ropes and wooden “folds” that were used in measuring distances and in construction.

According to historians and architects, there were more than 10 fathoms and they had their own names, were incommensurable and not multiples of one another. Fathoms: city - 284.8 cm, untitled - 258.4 cm, great - 244.0 cm, Greek - 230.4 cm, state - 217.6 cm, royal - 197.4 cm, church - 186.4 cm, folk - 176.0 cm, masonry - 159.7 cm, simple - 150.8 cm, small - 142.4 cm and another one without a name - 134.5 cm (data from one source), as well as - courtyard, pavement.

Makhovaya fathom- the distance between the ends of the middle fingers of arms outstretched to the sides is 1.76 m.

OBLIQUE FATHOUS(originally "splait") - 2.48 m.

Fathoms were used before the introduction of the metric system of measures.

ELBOW equal to the length of the arm from the fingers to the elbow (according to other sources - “the distance in a straight line from the elbow to the end of the extended middle finger”). The size of this ancient measure of length, according to various sources, ranged from 38 to 47 cm. Since the 16th century, it was gradually replaced by the arshin and in the 19th century it was almost not used.

Elbow is a native ancient Russian measure of length, known already in the 11th century. The value of the Old Russian cubit of 10.25-10.5 vershoks (on average approximately 46-47 cm) was obtained from a comparison of measurements in the Jerusalem Temple made by Abbot Daniel, and later measurements of the same dimensions in an exact copy of this temple - in the main temple of the New Jerusalem Monastery on the Istra River (XVII century). The cubit was widely used in trade as a particularly convenient measure. In the retail trade of canvas, cloth, and linen, the elbow was the main measure. In large wholesale trade, linen, cloth, etc., were supplied in the form of large pieces - “postavs”, the length of which at different times and in different places ranged from 30 to 60 cubits (in places of trade these measures had a specific, well-defined meaning)

VERSHOK equaled 1/16 arshin, 1/4 quarter. In modern terms - 4.44 cm. The name "Vershok" comes from the word "top". In the literature of the 17th century. There are also fractions of an inch - half an inch and a quarter inch.

When determining the height of a person or animal, counting was carried out after two arshins (mandatory for a normal adult): if it was said that the person being measured was 15 vershoks in height, then this meant that he was 2 arshins 15 vershoks, i.e. 209 cm.

For small domestic animals they used - “height *** inches”

For trees - “height *** arshins”

Measures of length (used in Russia after the Decree of 1835 and before the introduction of the metric system):

1 verst = 500 fathoms = 50 poles = 10 chains = 1.0668 kilometers
1 fathom = 3 arshins = 7 feet = 48 vershoks = 2.1336 meters
Oblique fathom = 2.48 m.
Mach fathom = 1.76 m.
1 arshin = 4 quarters (spans) = 16 vershok = 28 inches = 71.12 cm
(divisions in vertices were usually applied to arshins)
1 cubit = 44 cm (according to various sources from 38 to 47 cm)
1 foot = 1/7 fathom = 12 inches = 30.479 cm

1 quarter (span, small pip, pyadnitsa, pyada, pyaden, pyadyka) = 4 vershka = 17.78 cm (or 19 cm - according to B.A. Rybakov)
The name p i d comes from the Old Russian word “metacarpus”, i.e. wrist. One of the oldest measures of length (since the 17th century, “span” was replaced by “quarter arshin”)
Synonym for "quarter" - "chet"

Large span = 1/2 cubit = 22-23 cm - the distance between the ends of the extended thumb and middle (or little) finger.

A “span with somersault” is equal to a small span plus two or three joints of the index or middle finger = 27 - 31 cm.

1 vershok = 4 nails (width - 1.1 cm) = 1/4 span = 1/16 arshin = 4.445 centimeters
- an ancient Russian measure of length equal to the width of two fingers (index and middle).

1 finger ~ 2 cm.

New measures (introduced since the 18th century):

1 inch = 10 lines = 2.54 cm
The name comes from Dutch - "thumb". Equal to the width of your thumb or the length of three dry grains of barley taken from the middle part of the ear.

1 line = 10 points = 1/10 inch = 2.54 millimeters (example: Mosin’s “three-ruler” - d = 7.62 mm.)
The line is the width of a wheat grain, approximately 2.54 mm.

1 hundredth fathom = 2.134 cm

1 point = 0.2540 millimeters

1 geographical mile (1/15 degree of the earth's equator) = 7 versts = 7.42 km
(from the Latin word "milia" - a thousand (steps))
1 nautical mile (1 minute of arc of the earth's meridian) = 1.852 km
1 English mile = 1.609 km
1 yard = 91.44 centimeters

In the second half of the 17th century, the arshin was used together with the vershok in various branches of production. In the “Description Books” of the Armory Chamber of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (1668) it is written: “... a copper regimental cannon, smooth, nicknamed Kashpir, Moscow made, length three arshins and a half-eleven vershok (10.5 vershok) ... Large cast iron archina, Iron lion, with belts, length three arshins, three quarters and a half inch." The ancient Russian measure “elbow” continued to be used in everyday life for measuring cloth, linen and woolen fabrics. As follows from the Trade Book, three cubits are equivalent to two arshins. The span as an ancient measure of length still continued to exist, but since its meaning changed due to agreement with a quarter of the arshin, this name (span) gradually fell out of use. The span was replaced by a quarter arshin.

From the second half of the 18th century, the divisions of the vershok, in connection with the reduction of the arshin and sazhen to a multiple ratio with English measures, were replaced by small English measures: inch, line and point, but only the inch took root. Lines and dots were used relatively little. The lines expressed the dimensions of lamp glasses and the calibers of guns (for example, ten- or 20-line glass, known in everyday life). The dots were used only to determine the sizes of gold and silver coins. In mechanics and mechanical engineering, the inch was divided into 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 parts.

In construction and engineering, dividing fathoms into 100 parts was widely used.

The foot and inch used in Russia are equal in size to English measures.

The decree of 1835 determined the relationship between Russian measures and English ones:
Fathom = 7 feet
Arshin = 28 inches
A number of units of measurement (verst divisions) were abolished, and new measures of length came into use: inch, line, point, borrowed from English measures.

Volume measures

Bucket

The basic Russian premetric measure of the volume of liquids is a bucket = 1/40 of a barrel = 10 mugs = 30 pounds of water = 20 vodka bottles (0.6) = 16 wine bottles (0.75) = 100 glasses = 200 scales = 12 liters (15 l - according to other sources, rarely) V. - iron, wooden or leather utensils, mostly cylindrical in shape, with ears or a bow for wearing. In everyday life, two buckets on the rocker should be in a “woman’s lift.” Division into smaller measures was carried out according to the binary principle: the bucket was divided into 2 half-buckets or 4 quarters of a bucket or 8 half-quarters, as well as into mugs and cups. The oldest “international” measure of volume is “handful”.

Until the middle of the 17th century. the bucket contained 12 mugs; in the second half of the 17th century. the so-called government bucket contained 10 mugs, and a mug contained 10 cups, so the bucket contained 100 cups. Then, according to the decree of 1652, the glasses were made three times larger than before (“three glasses of glasses”). The sales bucket held 8 mugs. The value of the bucket was variable, but the value of the mug was constant, 3 pounds of water (1228.5 grams). The volume of the bucket was 134.297 cubic inches.

Barrel

The barrel, as a measure of liquids, was used mainly in the process of trade with foreigners, who were prohibited from conducting retail trade in wine in small quantities. Equal to 40 buckets (492 l)

The material for making the barrel was chosen depending on its purpose:
oak - for beer and vegetable oils
spruce - under water
linden - for milk and honey

Most often, small barrels and kegs from 5 to 120 liters were used in peasant life. Large barrels could hold up to forty buckets (forty)

Barrels were also used for washing (beating) linen.

In the 15th century The ancient measures were still common - golvazhnya, lukno and harvesting. In the XVI-XVII centuries. Along with the fairly common korobya and belly, the Vyatka grain measure marten, the Perm sapsa (measure of salt and bread), the Old Russian bast and poshev are often found. The Vyatka marten was considered equal to three Moscow quarters, the saptsa contained 6 pounds of salt and approximately 3 pounds of rye, bast - 5 pounds of salt, poshev - about 15 pounds of salt.

Household measures of the volume of liquids were very diverse and were widely used even at the end of the 17th century: Smolensk barrel, bocha-selyodovka (8 pounds of herring; one and a half times less than Smolensk).

Measuring barrel "... from edge to edge one and a half arshins, and across - an arshin, and to measure up, like a leader, half an arshin."

In everyday life and in trade they used a variety of household vessels: cauldrons, jugs, pots, bratins, valleys. The significance of such household measures varied in different places: for example, the capacity of boilers ranged from half a bucket to 20 buckets. In the 17th century a system of cubic units based on the 7-foot fathom was introduced, and the term cubic (or "cubic") was also introduced. A cubic fathom contained 27 cubic arshins or 343 cubic feet; cubic arshin - 4096 cubic vershoks or 21952 cubic inches.

Wine measures

The Wine Charter of 1781 established that every drinking establishment should have “measures certified in the Treasury Chamber.”

Bucket– Russian premetric measure of the volume of liquids, equal to 12 liters

Quarter = 3 liters (it used to be a narrow neck glass bottle)

The “bottle” measure appeared in Russia under Peter I.

Russian bottle = 1/20 of a bucket = 1/2 of a shtof = 5 glasses = 0.6 liters (the half-liter appeared later - in the twenties of the 20th century)

Since the bucket held 20 bottles (2 0 * 0.6 = 12 liters), and in trade the count was on buckets, the box still holds 20 bottles.

For wine, the Russian bottle was larger - 0.75 liters.

In Russia, glass production began in a factory way in 1635. The production of glass vessels also dates back to this time. The first domestic bottle was produced at the plant, which was built on the territory of the modern Istra station near Moscow, and the products were, at first, intended exclusively for pharmacists.

Overseas, a standard bottle holds one-sixth of a gallon - in different countries this ranges from 0.63 to 0.76 liters

A flat bottle is called a flask.

Shtof (from German Stof) = 1/10 of a bucket = 10 glasses = 1.23 liters. Appeared under Peter I. Served as a measure of the volume of all alcoholic beverages. The shape of the damask was like a quarter.

Mug (the word means “for drinking in a circle”) = 10 glasses = 1.23 liters.

Modern faceted glass was previously called "doskan" ("planed boards"), consisting of fret-boards tied with rope around a wooden bottom.

Charka (Russian measure of liquid) = 1/10 shtofa = 2 scales = 0.123 l.
Stack = 1/6 bottle = 100 grams It was considered the size of a single dose.
Shkalik (popular name - “kosushka”, from the word “mow”, according to the characteristic movement of the hand) = 1/2 cup = 0.06 l.
Quarter (half a scale or 1/16th of a bottle) = 37.5 grams.

Barrelware (that is, for liquid and bulk products) was distinguished by a variety of names depending on the place of production (baklazhka, baklusha, barrels), on the size and volume - badia, pudovka, sorokovka), its main purpose (resin, salt, wine, tar) and the wood used for their manufacture (oak, pine, linden, aspen). Finished cooperage products were divided into buckets, tubs, vats, kegs and casks.

Endova

Wooden or metal utensils (often decorated with ornaments) used for serving drinks. It was a low bowl with a spout. The metal valley was made of copper or brass. Wooden valleys were made from aspen, linden or birch.

Leather bag(skin) – up to 60 l

Korchaga- 12 l
Nozzle- 2.5 buckets (Nogorod liquid measure, 15th century)
Ladle
Zhban
Tub– vessel height – 30-35 centimeters, diameter – 40 centimeters, volume – 2 buckets or 22-25 liters
Krynki
Sudenci, misa
Tuesa
Box- from solid pieces of bast, sewn together with strips of bast. The bottom and top cover are made of boards. Sizes – from small boxes to large chests of drawers
Balakir- a dugout wooden vessel, 1/4-1/5 in volume, buckets.

As a rule, in the central and western parts of Russia, measuring containers for storing milk were proportional to the daily needs of the family and consisted of a variety of clay pots, pots, milk pans, lids, jugs, throats, milking bowls, birch bark with lids, containers, the capacity of which was approximately 1 /4- 1/2 buckets (about 3-5 l). The containers of makhotok, stavtsy, tuesk, in which fermented milk products were kept - sour cream, yogurt and cream, approximately corresponded to 1/8 of a bucket.

Kvass was prepared for the whole family in vats, tubs, barrels and tubs (lagushki, izhemki, etc.) with a capacity of up to 20 buckets, and for a wedding - for 40 or more poods. In drinking establishments in Russia, kvass was usually served in kvass pots, decanters and jugs, the capacity of which varied in different areas from 1/8-1/16 to about 1/3-1/4 of a bucket. The commercial measure of kvass in the central regions of Russia was a large clay (drinking) glass and jug.

Under Ivan the Terrible, eagle-shaped (branded with the sign of an eagle), that is, standardized drinking measures: bucket, octagon, half-octagon, stop and mug, first appeared in Russia.

Despite the fact that valleys, ladles, staves, stacks remained in use, and for small sales - hooks (cups with a long hook at the end instead of a handle, hanging along the edges of the valley).

In Old Russian measures and in vessels used for drinking, the principle of volume ratio is laid down - 1: 2: 4: 8: 16.

Ancient volume measures:

1 cu. fathom = 9.713 cubic meters meters
1 cu. arshin = 0.3597 cubic meters meters=
1 cu. vershok = 87.82 cubic meters. cm
1 cu. ft = 28.32 cu. decimeter (liter)
1 cu. inch = 16.39 cu. cm
1 cu. line = 16.39 cu. mm
1 quart is a little more than a liter.

In trade practice and in everyday life, according to L.F. Magnitsky, the following measures of bulk solids (“grain measures”) were used for a long time:

flipper- 12 quarters
quarter(chet) – 1/4 part of kadi
octopus(eighth - eighth part)

Kad(tub, shackle) = 20 buckets or more
Big tub - bigger tub

Tsybik- box (of tea) = 40 to 80 pounds (by weight).
Details: Tea was compacted tightly into wooden boxes, “tsibiki” - leather-covered frames in the shape of a square (two feet on a side), braided on the outside with reeds in two or three layers, which could be carried by two people. In Siberia, such a box of tea was called Umesta (“Place” is a possible option).

half an octagon
quadruple

Liquid measures ("wine measures"):

barrel(40 buckets)
boiler(from half a bucket to 20 buckets)
bucket
half a bucket
quarter bucket
osmuha (1/8)
crush(1/16 bucket)

Measures of volume of liquid and granular bodies:

1 quarter= 2.099 hectoliters = 209.9 l
1 quadruple(“measure”) = 2.624 deciliters = 26.24 l
1 garnets= 3.280 liters

Weights

In Rus', the following weight measures (Old Russian) were used in trade:
Berkovets = 10 poods
pud = 40 pounds = 16.38 kg
pound (hryvnia) = 96 spools = 0.41 kg
lot = 3 spools = 12.797 g
spool = 4.27 g
fraction = 0.044 g
...

The hryvnia (later pound) remained unchanged. The word "hryvnia" was used to designate both a weight and a monetary unit. This is the most common measure of weight in retail and craft applications. It was also used for weighing metals, in particular gold and silver.

BERKOVETS- this large measure of weight was used in wholesale trade mainly for weighing wax, honey, etc.
Berkovets - from the name of the island of Bjerk. This is what was called in Rus' a measure of weight of 10 pounds, just a standard barrel of wax, which one person could roll onto a merchant boat sailing to this very island. (163.8 kg).
There is a known mention of Berkovets in the 12th century in the charter of Prince Vsevolod Gabriel Mstislavich to the Novgorod merchants.

GOLDEN equaled 1/96 of a pound, in modern terms 4.26 g. They said about it: “the spool is small but expensive.” This word originally meant a gold coin.

LB(from the Latin word "pondus" - weight, weight) was equal to 32 lots, 96 spools, 1/40 pood, in modern terms 409.50 g. Used in combinations: "not a pound of raisins", "find out how much a pound of raisins is."
The Russian pound was adopted under Alexei Mikhailovich.

Sugar was sold by the pound.

They bought tea with gold coins. Spool = 4.266g.

Until recently, a small packet of tea weighing 50 grams was called an “octam” (1/8 pound)

LOT- an old Russian unit of mass measurement equal to three spools or 12.797 grams.

SHARE– the smallest old Russian unit of mass measurement, equal to 1/96 of a spool or 0.044 grams.

PUD equaled 40 pounds, in modern terms - 16.38 kg. It was already used in the 12th century.
Pud - (from the Latin pondus - weight, heaviness) is not only a measure of weight, but also a weighing device. When weighing metals, the pud was both a unit of measurement and a unit of counting. Even when the results of weighings were reported to tens and hundreds of poods, they were not transferred to Berkovites. Back in the XI-XII centuries. they used various scales with equal-armed and unequal-armed beams: “pud” - a type of scale with a variable fulcrum and a fixed weight, “skalvy” - equal-armed scales (two-cup).

The pud as a unit of mass was abolished in the USSR in 1924.

Measures of weight used in the 18th century:

Area measures

The main measure of area was considered to be a tithe, as well as shares of a tithe: half a tithe, a quarter (a quarter was 40 fathoms of length and 30 fathoms of latitude) and so on. Land surveyors used (especially after the “Cathedral Code” of 1649) mainly the official three-arshine fathom, equal to 2.1336 m, so a tithe of 2400 square fathoms was equal to approximately 1.093 hectares.

The scale of use of tithes and quarters grew in accordance with the development of land and the increase in the territory of the state. However, already in the first half of the 16th century it became clear that when measuring lands in quarters, the general inventory of lands would take many years. And then, in the 40s of the 16th century, one of the most enlightened people, Ermolai Erasmus, proposed using a larger unit - a tetrahedral field, which meant a square area with a side of 1000 fathoms. This proposal was not accepted, but played a certain role in the process of introducing the large plow. Ermolai Erasmus is one of the first theoretical metrologists, who also sought to combine the solution of metrological and social issues. When determining the areas of hayfields, tithes were introduced with great difficulty because the lands were inconvenient for measurement due to their location and irregular shapes. The most commonly used yield measure was a haystack. Gradually, this measure acquired a meaning linked to the tithe, and was divided into 2 half-shocks, 4 quarter-shocks, 8 half-quarters of a hay, etc. Over time, a haystack, as a measure of area, was equated to 0.1 tithes (i.e., it was believed that an average of 10 copecks of hay were taken from a tithe). Labor and sowing measures were expressed through a geometric measure - tithe.

Surface area measures:

1 sq. verst = 250,000 square fathoms = 1.138 sq. kilometers
1 tithe = 2400 square fathoms = 1.093 hectares
1 kopn = 0.1 tithe
1 sq. fathom = 16 square arshins = 4.552 sq. meters
1 sq. arshin=0.5058 sq. meters
1 sq. vershok=19.76 sq. cm
1 sq. ft=9.29 sq. inches=0.0929 sq. m
1 sq. inch=6.452 sq. centimeter
1 sq. line=6.452 sq. millimeters

Units of measurement in Rus' in the 18th century

By the 18th century, there were up to 400 units of measures of different sizes used in different countries. The variety of measures made trading operations difficult. Therefore, each state sought to establish uniform measures for its country.

In Russia, back in the 16th and 17th centuries, uniform systems of measures were defined for the entire country. In the 18th century In connection with economic development and the need for strict accounting in foreign trade, the question of measurement accuracy and the creation of standards on the basis of which calibration work ("metrology") could be organized in Russia arose.

The question of choosing standards from the many existing ones (both domestic and overseas) turned out to be difficult. In the middle of the 18th century. foreign coins and precious metals were weighed at customs upon arrival, and then reweighed repeatedly at the mints; At the same time, the weight turned out to be different.

By the mid-30s of the 18th century. There was an opinion that, more precisely, the scales at the St. Petersburg customs office. It was decided to make model scales from the customs scales, place them under the Senate and carry out verification using them.

A ruler that previously belonged to Peter I served as an example of a measure of length when determining the size of an arshin and a sazhen. The ruler was marked with a half-arshin. Using this half-arshin measure, samples of length measures were made - a copper arshin and a wooden fathom.

Among the measures of bulk solids received by the Commission, the quadrangle of the Moscow Big Customs was selected, according to which the measurements of bulk solids in other cities were verified.

The basis for liquid measurements was a bucket sent from the Kamennomostsky drinking yard in Moscow.

In 1736, the Senate decided to form a Commission of Weights and Measures, headed by the chief director of the Monetary Board, Count Mikhail Gavrilovich Golovkin. The commission created exemplary measures - standards, established the relationship of various measures to each other, and developed a project for organizing verification work in the country. A project was introduced on the decimal construction of measures, taking into account the fact that the Russian monetary account system was built on the decimal principle.

Having decided on the starting units of measures, the Commission began to establish connections between different units of measurement using measures of length. Determine the volume of the bucket and quadrangle. The volume of the bucket was 136.297 cubic vershok, and the volume of the four-piece was 286.421 cubic vershok. The result of the work of the Commission was the “Regulations...”

According to the arshin, the value of which was determined by the Commission of 1736–1742, it was recommended in 1745 to produce arshins “in the entire Russian state.” In accordance with the volume of the quadrangle adopted by the Commission, in the second half of the 18th century. Quadruples, half-octagons and octagons were made.

Under Paul I, by decree of April 29, 1797 on the “Establishment of correct scales, drinking and grain measures throughout the Russian Empire,” a lot of work began on streamlining measures and weights. Its completion dates back to the 30s of the 19th century. The decree of 1797 was drawn up in the form of desirable recommendations. The decree concerned four issues of measurement: weighing instruments, weight measures, measures of liquid and granular bodies. Both the weighing instruments and all the measures had to be replaced, for which it was planned to cast cast iron measures.

By 1807, three arshin standards were made (stored in St. Petersburg): crystal, steel and copper. The basis for determining their value was the reduction of arshin and fathom to a multiple ratio with English. measures - in fathoms 7 English feet, in arshins - 28 English. inches. The standards were approved by Alexander I and transferred for storage to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 52 copper tetrahedral arshins were made to be sent to each province. It’s interesting that before this, the saying: “Measure by your own yardstick” literally corresponded to reality. Sellers measured the length of the fabric with a yardstick - using a drawbar from their shoulder.

On July 10, 1810, the State Council of Russia decided to introduce a single measure of length throughout the country - the standard 16 vershok arshin (71.12 cm). It was ordered to introduce state-branded yardsticks priced at 1 silver ruble in all provinces, with the simultaneous withdrawal of old yardstick templates.

Stage
Stage [Greek. stadion - stages (measure of length)] - this ancient measure of distances is more than two thousand years old (from it - Stadium in other Greece; Greek stadion - place for competitions). The size of the stage is about two hundred meters. “...directly opposite the city lay the island of Pharos, on the northern tip of which stood the famous lighthouse of the same name, built of white marble, connected to the city by a long pier called the septastadion (7 stages)” (F.A. Brockhaus, I. A. Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary)

Ancient measures in modern language

In modern Russian, ancient units of measurement and words denoting them have been preserved mainly in the form of proverbs and sayings

Sayings:
“You write in big letters” - large
"Kolomenskaya Versta" is a humorous name for a very tall person.
"Oblique fathoms in the shoulders" - broad-shouldered

in poetry:
You can’t understand Russia with your mind, you can’t measure it with a common (official) yardstick. Tyutchev

Dictionary
Currency units

Quarter = 25 rubles
Ruble = 2 half
Tselkovy - the colloquial name for the metal ruble
Poltina = 50 kopecks
Quarter = 25 kopecks
Five-altyn = 15 kopecks
Altyn = 3 kopecks
Dime = 10 kopecks
kidney = 1 half
2 money = 1 kopeck
1/2 copper money (half a coin) = 1 kopeck.
Grosh (copper penny) = 2 kopecks.

Polushka (otherwise half money) was equal to one kopeck. This is the smallest unit in the ancient money account. Since 1700, half coins were minted from copper = 1/2 copper money was equal to 1 kopeck.

Foreign names:
Pint is an old French measure of liquids, about 0.9 liters; in England and the USA - a measure of the volume of liquids and bread, approximately 0.57 l
Eighth of a pound = 1/8 pound
Gallon English - 4.546 l
Barrel - 159 l
Carat - 0.2 g, weight of wheat grain
Ounce - 28.35 g
English pound - 0.45359 kg
1 stone = 14 pounds = 6.35 kilograms
1 small handweight = 100 pounds = 45.36 kg.
Yard -91.44 cm.
Nautical mile - 1852 m
1 cable - tenth of a mile
Rhumb - 11 1/4° = 1/32 fraction of a circle - unit of angular measure
Sea knot (speed) = 1 mph

Ancient Russian quantities:
Quarter - quarter, quarter
"a quarter of wine" = a fourth of a bucket.
"quadruple grain" = 1/4 cady
kad - an old Russian measure of bulk solids (usually four pounds)
Osmina, osmukha - eighth (eighth) part = 1/8
An eighth of a pound was called osmushka ("octam of tea").
"a quarter to eight" – time = 7:45 am or pm
Five - five units of weight or length
A ream is a measure of paper, formerly equal to 480 sheets; later - 1000 sheets
"one hundred and eighty osmago November day of osmago" - 188 November eighth
Pregnancy is a burden, an armful, as much as you can wrap your arms around.
Half a third - two and a half
Half a point = 4.5
Half elevenths = 10.5
Half a hundred - two hundred and fifty
Field - "arena, lists" (115 steps - a variant of the magnitude), later - the first name and synonym for "verst" (field - million - mile), Dahl has a variant meaning of this word: "daily march, about 20 versts"
“Printed fathom” - official (standard, with a state stamp), measured, three arshins
A cut is an amount of material in a single piece of fabric sufficient to make any clothing (for example, a shirt)
“No estimate” - no number
Perfect, perfect - suitable, to match

Additional reading:

New domestic research

29.01.2017

In order to obtain objective information about an object or phenomenon, its properties and parameters, we need to describe it: measure, count, disassemble it into its component elements and reassemble it into a whole. All this, of course, concerns external characteristics and does not reveal the essence of things, which is known in a completely different way.

In everyday life, we constantly use measuring instruments such as watches, electric meters, scales, thermometer, ruler and many others. To measure a quantity means to find out how many times it contains another quantity of the same kind, taken as a unit of measurement.

Today, 95% of the world's population uses the metric system of measurements, but this was not always the case.

Reference

The international decimal system of measurements, which is based on the use of units such as the kilogram and meter, is called Metric. Currently, the Metric system of measures is used in most countries of the world. There are, however, several large states that still use the English system of measures based on units such as pounds, feet and seconds. These include the UK, USA and Canada. However, these countries have also already adopted several legislative measures aimed at moving to the Metric system.

In Rus', the Russian system of measures was traditionally used, the main measuring element of which was the person. On the one hand, this is very convenient in everyday business affairs (the measuring device is always with you), on the other hand, it caused difficulties in trade transactions, when collecting taxes and in the development of industry (after all, such measuring units are different for different people).

In Russia, in different places, almost all measures had different meanings, so detailed tables of measures were placed in arithmetic textbooks before the revolution. In one common pre-revolutionary reference book one could find up to 100 different feet, 46 different miles, 120 different pounds, etc. After all, people’s steps are different, their foot lengths are not the same, and everyone’s toes are different widths...

Therefore, there was a need to look for new unified units of measurement in the surrounding nature.

So our original system was replaced by the metric system of measures, which originated in France in the mid-18th century. It was approved for use in Russia (optional) according to the law of June 4, 1899. The use of the metric system of measures in the RSFSR became mandatory by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR dated September 14, 1918, and in the USSR by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated July 21, 1925.

So, modern units of measurement:

Weights

• 1 ton (t) = 1000 kilograms (kg)
• 1 quintal (c) = 100 kilograms (kg)
• 1 kilogram (kg) = 1000 grams (g)
• 1 gram (g) = 1000 milligrams (mg)

Length measures

• 1 kilometer (km) = 1000 meters (m)
• 1 meter (m) = 10 decimeters (dm) = 100 centimeters (cm)
• 1 decimeter (dm) = 10 centimeters (cm)
• 1 centimeter (cm) = 10 millimeters (mm)

Area measures

• 1 sq. kilometer (km2) = 1,000,000 sq. meters (m2)
• 1 sq. meter (m2) = 100 sq. decimeters (dm2) = 10,000 sq. centimeters (cm2)
• 1 hectare (ha) = 100 aram (a) = 10,000 sq. meters (m2)
• 1 ar (a) = 100 sq. meters (m2)

Volume measures

• 1 cu. meter (m3) = 1000 cubic meters decimeters (dm3) = 1,000,000 cubic meters. centimeters (cm3)
• 1 cu. decimeter (dm3) = 1000 cubic meters centimeters (cm3)
• 1 liter (l) = 1 cu. decimeter (dm3)
• 1 hectoliter (hl) = 100 liters (l)

Ancient Russian measures

Since ancient times, the measure of length and weight has always been a person: how far he can stretch his arm, how much he can lift on his shoulders, etc. The system of ancient Russian measures of length included the following basic measures: verst, fathom, arshin, elbow, span and vershok.

Proverbs and sayings using ancient measures of length and their translations into modern units of measurement:

1. An arshin and a caftan, and two for patches - 0.71 m and a caftan, and 1.42 m for patches.

2. A beard is the size of an inch, and words are the size of a bag - a beard is 44 cm, and words are the size of a bag.

3. He lies seven miles to heaven, and all through forest - he lies 7,469 km to heaven, and all through forest.

4. For seven miles they were looking for a mosquito, but the mosquito was on the nose - 7.469 km away they were looking for the mosquito, and the mosquito was on the nose.

5. He sees three arshins into the ground - he sees 2.13 m into the ground.

6. A hunter walks seven miles away to sip jelly - a hunter walks 7.469 km away to sip jelly.

7. You are a span from the truth, and she is a fathom from you - You are 19 cm from the truth, and she is 2.13 m from you.

8. Stretch a mile, but don’t be easy - stretch 1.067 km, but don’t be easy.

9. You can light a pound candle for this, but you can light a 16.4 kg candle for this.

10. A grain saves a pound - a grain of 16.4 kg protects

11. Two inches (or half an inch) from the pot, and already a pointer - 0.888 m (or 0.222 m) from the pot, and already a pointer.

12. Her Saturday went up two inches after Friday - her Saturday went up 0.888 m after Friday.

13. If you don’t give in an inch, you don’t give in 27 cm.

14. If you give in a span, you lose a fathom - you give in 27 cm, you lose 2.13 m.

15. Seven spans in the forehead - 189 cm in the forehead.

16. He is as tall as a fingernail, and his beard is as long as his elbow. He is as tall as his elbow, and his beard is 38-46 cm.

17. He stepped and conquered the kingdom - he stepped 71 cm and conquered the kingdom.

18. Not a step back! - not 71 cm back.

19. Each merchant measures with his own arshin - each merchant measures with his own 71 cm.

20. The beard is an arshin long, but the mind is an inch long - the beard is 71 cm long, and the mind is 27 cm long.

21. Oblique fathom at the shoulders - 2.13 m at the shoulders.

22. Moscow is miles away, but close to the heart - Moscow is 1.067 km away, but close to the heart.

23. Love is not measured by miles - love is not measured by 1.067 km.

24. From word to deed - a whole mile - from word to deed - 1.067 km.

25. A mile closer, a nickel cheaper - 1.067 km closer, a nickel cheaper.

26. Seven miles is not a detour for a fellow - 7.469 km is not a detour for a fellow.

27. You can see it from a mile away - it can be seen from 1.067 km away.

28. From thought to thought five thousand miles - from thought to thought - 5335 km.

29. Write about other people's sins in arshins, and about your own - in lowercase letters - write about other people's sins 71 cm, and about your own in lowercase letters.

30. Stretch a mile, but don’t be easy - stretch 1.067 km, but don’t be easy.

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Usmanova Gulina, Gabdrakhmanova Alina

When reading various literary works, proverbs, and sayings, we come across various ancient measures of mass, but they are not clear to us. In this project work, 5th grade students got acquainted with measures of mass, and invite you to get acquainted with them.

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Project in mathematics

"Ancient mass measures"

Completed by: Gabdrakhmanova Alina Ilgamovna,

Usmanova Gulina Fanilevna,

5th grade students of the Municipal Educational Institution

Nurinerskaya secondary school

Head: Nurgaleeva Alsou Ramisovna,

Mathematics teacher MOU

Nurinerskaya secondary school

October, 2011

1. Introduction. Justification of the relevance of educational research…….…3
2. Chapter 1. Measurements of mass. …………………..…………………………………4
3. Chapter 2. Ancient measures of mass in Russian folk proverbs about sayings…………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

4 . Chapter 3. Standard of unit of mass……………………………………………………………..……6

5. Conclusion…………………………………………………….……………………………..…7

6. Literature……………………………………………………………………………………….………8

Introduction.

All peoples known to us used one or another measure to measure distances, areas, volumes and weights of various objects. “You can’t weave a bast without measure,” says the Russian proverb.

A thousand years ago, the Russian people had not only their own system of measures, but also state control over the measures. By the end of the 18th century, this system had become the only national system of measures in the world, based on its scientific basis.

Reading literary works, we have often encountered ancient measurements of length, weight, and volume. Understanding these measures is always difficult. In modern language we almost never use them. Only when reading works of fiction do we come across these concepts. But, nevertheless, we must know the meanings of the measures. After all, this is our story. We were interested in this topic, and we decided to seriously study the units of measurement of mass.

The relevance of the chosen topic is that you can still hear these words from others, acquaintances, and old people. But it’s not always clear what we’re talking about.

The meaning of proverbs and sayings in which these measures are found remained unclear. We believe that ignorance of them would be a manifestation of disrespect for the history of one’s country and the Russian language.

Based on this, my manager and I set the following goals:

1. get acquainted with ancient Russian measures, units of mass measurement;
2. find examples of the use of the names of these dimensions in modern Russian;

1. learn to use these measures when solving problems, convert ancient measures into the metric system of units of measurement.

Tasks:

1. study and analyze ancient units of measurement in various sources;
2. systematize the information received;
3. publish a booklet.

What is the practical significance of this study?

Firstly, ancient measures of measurement are found at Russian language olympiads, where it is required to reveal the meaning of this word; Problems with these measurements have been presented more than once at various mathematics competitions.

Secondly, there is no single textbook or manual that contains ancient measures of measurement.

In our work, we turned to the following sources: an explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, a reference book on mathematics, an encyclopedic dictionary on mathematics.

Chapter 1. Measurements of mass.

"Small spool but precious"

In Rus', the following weight measures (Old Russian) were used in trade:

Having studied the necessary theoretical material, we measured the body mass of some of our classmates and converted them into various ancient measures of mass.

Chapter 2. Ancient measures of mass in Russian folk proverbs and sayings

Turning to Phraseological Dictionaries and Russian language teachers, we found out that various measures of body mass are found in many proverbs and sayings. We found the following:

“Not a share in pounds, a share in spools.”

“The spool is small, but expensive” - this is what they say about something insignificant in appearance, but very valuable.

“Health (fame) comes in gold and goes away in pounds.

“The spool is small, but it weighs gold; the camel is large, but it carries water.”

“Trouble (grief, misfortune, misfortune) comes in pounds, and goes away in gold.”

“That’s a pound!” they say, expressing disappointment and surprise.

“This is not a pound of raisins” is a humorous expression about some humorous matter.

“The pound must give way” - i.e. one must have respect for elders, more knowledgeable, experienced ones.

“A grain saves a pound.”

“You recognize a person when you eat a peck (three pounds) of salt with him.”

“Hay for pounds, gold for spools” - i.e. Each thing has its own specific value.

“You’ll take a lot of grief off your shoulders, but you’ll choke on the spool valves” - i.e. Even an insignificant danger should not be neglected.

“The bad comes down by the pound, and the good drops in the spools.”

“He doesn’t have half a spool of brain (mind) in his head.

“I ate half a meal and I’m still full.”

“Your own spool is more valuable than someone else’s.”

“One grain of puda brings.”

“It’s not bad that it’s half a pound of bun.”

“A grain saves a pound.”

“You can light a pound (ruble) candle for this.”

“Not everywhere with faith, sometimes with moderation.”

“The measure is the beauty of every matter, it does not lie.”

“Weight and measure will not allow sin” - i.e. to deception, error.

“Believe the word, measure the bread, and count the money.”

“Keep your joy in moderation, and don’t lose faith in resentment.”

“Where there is rye, there is measure, where there are people, there is faith.”

Chapter 3. Standard unit of mass

In 1872, by decision of the International Commission on Standards of the Metric System, the mass of the prototype kilogram, stored in the National Archives of France, was adopted as a unit of mass. This prototype is a platinum cylindrical weight with a height and diameter of 39 mm. Prototypes of the kilogram for practical use were made from a platinum-iridium alloy. A platinum-iridium weight, closest to the mass of the Archive’s platinum kilogram, was adopted as the international prototype of the kilogram. It should be noted that the mass of the international prototype kilogram is somewhat different from the mass of a cubic decimeter of water. As a result, the volume of 1 liter of water and 1 cubic decimeter are not equal to each other (1 liter = 1.000028 dm 3 ). In 1964, the XII General Conference on Weights and Measures decided to equate 1 l to 1 dm 3 .

The international prototype of the kilogram was approved at the First General Conference on Meters and Weights in 1889 as a prototype of a unit of mass, although at that time there was no clear distinction between the concepts of mass and weight and therefore the mass standard was often called the weight standard.

More than 100 years have passed since the prototypes of the kilogram were created. Over the past period, national standards were periodically compared with the international standard. In Japan, special scales have been created using a laser beam to record the “swing” of a rocker arm with a reference and tare weights. The results are processed using a computer. At the same time, the error in reproducing a kilogram was increased to approximately 10-10 (according to standard deviation). One set of such scales is available in the Metrological Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion

The ancient units of measurement discussed in this work are not described in school textbooks. The work carried out will allow us to solve problems with ancient measures, acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities related to various fields of knowledge. Having studied the ancient units of mass measurement, we expanded our understanding of some unknown concepts, improved our capabilities in solving problems proposed in Olympiads and competitions, better began to identify our capabilities and abilities in this direction, eliminated many of the difficulties that arose when independently solving non-standard problems, in common proverbs and sayings.

We want the work “Units of Mass Measurement” to attract the attention of many inquisitive schoolchildren and become a necessary good assistant for students preparing for competitions and Olympiads. And those who show an increased interest in mathematics can find a lot of interesting and educational material here. This work brought us great pleasure.

Literature

1. Voinova L.A., Zhukov V.P., Molotkov A.I., Fedorov A.I. Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language. M 1978

2. Dal V.I. Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language M.1955

3. Depman I.Ya., Vilenkin N.Ya. Behind the pages of a mathematics textbook. M., 1981.

4. Mathematics (supplement to the newspaper “First of September”, No. 7 1994, No. 1 1996, No. 10 1996

5. Internet resources

http:// dik.akademik.ru

http://rus-ved-rus.narod.ru

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Completed by: Gabdrakhmanova Alina Ilgamovna Usmanova Gulina Fanilevna, 5th grade students of the Municipal Educational Institution Nurinerskaya Secondary School Supervisor: Nurgaleeva Alsu Ramisovna, mathematics teacher of the Municipal Educational Institution Nurinerskaya Secondary School

Reading literary works, we have often encountered ancient measurements of length, weight, and volume. Understanding these measures is always difficult. In modern language we almost never use them. Only when reading works of fiction do we come across these concepts. But, nevertheless, we must know the meanings of the measures. After all, this is our story. We were interested in this topic, and we decided to seriously study the units of measurement of mass. The relevance of the chosen topic is that you can still hear these words from others, acquaintances, and old people. But it’s not always clear what we’re talking about. The meaning of proverbs and sayings in which these measures are found remained unclear. We believe that ignorance of them would be a manifestation of disrespect for the history of one’s country.

Project goals: 1. get acquainted with ancient Russian measures, units of mass; 2. find examples of using the names of these dimensions in modern Russian; 3. learn to use these measures when solving problems, convert ancient measures into the metric system of units of measurement. Objectives: 1. study and analyze ancient units of measurement in various sources; 2. systematize the information received; 3. publish a booklet.

Practical significance of this study Firstly, ancient measures of measurement are found at Olympiads in the Russian language, where it is required to reveal the meaning of this word; Problems with these measurements have been presented more than once at various mathematics competitions. Secondly, there is no single textbook or manual that contains ancient measures of measurement.

Measures for measuring mass in Rus'

Berkovets Equal 163, 8 kg Large measure of weight, used in wholesale trade mainly for weighing wax, honey, etc. Berkovets - from the name of the island of Bjerk. This is what was called in Rus' a measure of weight of 10 pounds, just a standard barrel of wax, which one person could roll onto a merchant boat sailing to this very island.

PUD Equal to 16.38 kilograms. It was already used in the 12th century. A pud is not only a measure of weight, but also a weighing device. When weighing metals, the pud was both a unit of measurement and a unit of counting. Back in the XI-XII centuries. they used various scales with equal-armed and unequal-armed beams: “pud” - a type of scale with a variable fulcrum and a fixed weight. The pud as a unit of mass was abolished in the USSR in 1924.

A trading pound is equal to 0.4095 kilograms. Used in combinations: “not a pound of raisins”, “find out how much a pound of raisins is.” The Russian pound was adopted under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Sugar was sold by the pound. (From the German word pfund or Latin pondus - weight, heaviness, strength.)

1 ounce = 29.860g 1 kidney = 171 mg 1 steelyard = 1.024 kg 1 lot = 12.8 g

Zolotnik Equal to 4.3 g The origin of the word zolotnik is not clear. It is assumed that it comes from the word zlatnik - the name of a coin during the reign of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (10th century). From the end of the 16th century. served as a unit of weight for precious metals and stones.

Carat Equal 0.2 g From the Arabic word qirat - a unit of weight for precious stones, diamonds, rough diamonds, etc., as well as gold, which is used by jewelers in all countries, including Russia

Gran (pharmaceutical) Equal to 62.209 mg From the Latin word granum – grain, grain, in the Russian system of measures it was used as a unit of weight for medicines and precious stones, in particular for weighing pearls. Used in old Russian apothecary practice

Masses of our classmates in ancient measures

No. Last name, first name of students Weight in kg Weight in pounds Weight in pounds 1 Agliullin Fannur 39 2.4 95.4 2 Gabdulkhaeva Alsu 46 2.8 112.5 3 Gaifutdinov Ainur 41 2.5 100.2 4 Garipova Gulyuza 39 2, 4 95.4 5 Gilfanov Ilmir 30 1.8 73.3 6 Daminova Ilsina 47 2.7 114.9 7 Islamov Salavat 43 2.6 105.1 8 Mukhametzyanova Razina 39 2.4 95.4 9 Nurgaleev Ramzil 38 2, 3 92.9 10 Faskhutdinova Zarina 35 2.1 85.6 11 Khairullin Ruzil 48 2.9 117.4 12 Shaikhieva Ilziya 29 1.8 70.9 13 Shamsutdinova Liliya 28 1.7 68.5

Ancient measures of mass in Russian folk proverbs and sayings.

“Not a share in pounds, a share in spools.” “The spool is small, but expensive” - this is what they say about something insignificant in appearance, but very valuable. “Health (fame) comes in gold and goes away in pounds. “The spool is small, but it weighs gold; the camel is large, but it carries water.” “Trouble (grief, misfortune, misfortune) comes in pounds, and goes away in gold.” “That’s a pound!” they say, expressing disappointment and surprise. “This is not a pound of raisins” is a humorous expression about some humorous matter. “The pound must give way” - i.e. one must have respect for elders, more knowledgeable, experienced ones. “A grain saves a pound.” “You recognize a person when you eat a peck (three pounds) of salt with him.”

“Hay for pounds, gold for spools” - i.e. Each thing has its own specific value. “You’ll take a lot of grief off your shoulders, but you’ll choke on the spool valves” - i.e. Even an insignificant danger should not be neglected. “The bad comes down by the pound, and the good drops in the spools.” “He doesn’t have half a spool of brain (mind) in his head. “I ate half a meal and I’m still full.” “Your own spool is more valuable than someone else’s.” “One grain of puda brings.” “It’s not bad that it’s half a pound of bun.” “A grain saves a pound.” “You can light a pound (ruble) candle for this.” “Not everywhere with faith, sometimes with moderation.” “The measure is the beauty of every matter, it does not lie.” “Weight and measure will not allow sin” - i.e. to deception, error. “Believe the word, measure the bread, and count the money.” “Keep your joy in moderation, and don’t lose faith in resentment.” “Where there is rye, there is measure, where there are people, there is faith.”

Standard unit of mass

In 1872, by decision of the International Commission on Standards of the Metric System, the mass of the prototype kilogram, stored in the National Archives of France, was adopted as a unit of mass. This prototype is a platinum cylindrical weight with a height and diameter of 39 mm. One set of such scales is available in the Metrological Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion The ancient units of measurement discussed in this work are not described in school textbooks. The work carried out will allow us to solve problems with ancient measures, acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities related to various areas of knowledge. Having studied the ancient units of mass measurement, we expanded our understanding of some unknown concepts, improved our capabilities in solving problems proposed in Olympiads and competitions, better began to identify our capabilities and abilities in this direction, eliminated many of the difficulties that arose when independently solving non-standard problems, in common proverbs and sayings.

Literature 1. Voinova L.A., Zhukov V.P., Molotkov A.I., Fedorov A.I. Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language. M 1978 2. Dal V.I. Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language M. 1955 3. Depman I.Ya., Vilenkin N.Ya. Behind the pages of a mathematics textbook. M., 1981. 4. Mathematics (supplement to the newspaper “First of September”, No. 7 1994, No. 1 1996, No. 10 1996 5. Internet resources www.kiris.ru www.etalon-tehno.ru http:// dik.akademik.ru http://rus-ved-rus.narod.ru

Since ancient times, the measure of length and weight has always been a person: how far he can stretch his arm, how much he can lift on his shoulders, etc.

The system of Old Russian measures of length included the following basic measures: verst, fathom, arshin, elbow, span and vershok.

ARSHIN- an ancient Russian measure of length, equal in modern terms to 0.7112 m. Arshin was also the name given to a measuring ruler, on which divisions in vershoks were usually applied.

There are different versions of the origin of the arshin measure of length. Perhaps, initially, “arshin” meant the length of a human step (about seventy centimeters, when walking on the plain, at an average pace) and was the base value for other major measures determining lengths, distances(fathom, verst). The root "AR" in the word a rsh i n - in the Old Russian language (and in other neighboring ones) means "EARTH", "surface of the earth", and indicates that this measure could be used in determining the length of the path traveled on foot. There was another name for this measure - STEP. In practice, counting could be done in pairs of steps of an adult ("small fathoms"; one-two - one, one-two - two, one-two - three...), or in threes ("official fathoms"; one-two-three - one, one-two-three - two...), and when measuring small distances in steps, step-by-step counting was used. Subsequently, they also began to use, under this name, an equal value - the length of the arm.

For small measures of length the basic value was the measure used from time immemorial in Rus' - “span” (from the 17th century - a length equal to a span was called differently - “quarter arshin”, “quarter”, “chet”), from which, by eye, it was easy to get smaller shares - two vershok (1/2 span) or vershok (1/4 span).

Merchants, when selling goods, as a rule, measured it with their arshin (ruler) or quickly - measuring “from the shoulder”. To exclude measurements, the authorities introduced, as a standard, the “official yardstick,” which is a wooden ruler with metal tips with a state mark riveted at the ends.

STEP- average length of a human step = 71 cm. One of the oldest measures of length.

SPAN(pyatnitsa) - an ancient Russian measure of length. SMALL SPAN(they said - “span”; since the 17th century it was called “quarter”) - the distance between the ends of the spread thumb and index (or middle) fingers = 17.78 cm.

BIG SPAN- the distance between the ends of the thumb and little finger (22-23 cm).

TUMBLING SPAND(“span with somersault”, according to Dahl - “span with somersault”) - span with the addition of two joints of the index club = 27-31 cm

Our old icon painters measured the size of icons in spans: “nine icons - seven spans (1 3/4 arshins). The Most Pure Tikhvin on gold is a pyadnitsa (4 vershoks). Icon of St. George the Great deeds of four spans (1 arshin).”

VERST- Old Russian travel measure (its early name was “field”). This word originally referred to the distance traveled from one turn of the plow to another during plowing. The two names have long been used in parallel, as synonyms. There are known mentions in written sources of the 11th century. In manuscripts of the 15th century. there is an entry: “field of 7 hundred and 50 fathoms” (750 fathoms long). Before Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, 1 verst was considered 1000 fathoms. Under Peter the Great, one verst was equal to 500 fathoms, in modern terms - 213.36 X 500 = 1066.8 m.

"Verstoy" was also called a milestone on the road.

The size of the verst changed repeatedly depending on the number of fathoms included in it and the size of the fathom. The Code of 1649 established a “boundary mile” of 1 thousand fathoms. Later, in the 18th century, along with it, a “travel mile” of 500 fathoms (“five hundredth mile”) began to be used.

Mezhevaya Versta- Old Russian unit of measurement equal to two versts. A verst of 1000 fathoms (2.16 km) was widely used as a boundary measure, usually when determining pastures around large cities, and on the outskirts of Russia, especially in Siberia, and to measure distances between populated areas.

The 500-fathom verst was used somewhat less frequently, mainly for measuring distances in the European part of Russia. Long distances, especially in Eastern Siberia, were determined in days of travel. In the 18th century boundary versts are gradually being replaced by travel ones, and the only verst in the 19th century. there remains a “travel” mileage equal to 500 fathoms.

SAZHEN- one of the most common length measures in Rus'. There were more than ten fathoms of different purposes (and, accordingly, size). “Makhovaya fathom” is the distance between the ends of the fingers of an adult man’s widely spaced hands. “Oblique fathom” is the longest: the distance from the toe of the left foot to the end of the middle finger of the raised right hand.

Used in the phrase: “he has oblique fathoms in his shoulders” (meaning - hero, giant).

This ancient measure of length was mentioned by Nestor in 1017. The name sazhen comes from the verb to reach (reach) - as far as one could reach with one’s hand. To determine the meaning of the ancient Russian fathom, a major role was played by the discovery of a stone on which the inscription was carved in Slavic letters: “In the summer of 6576 (1068) of the 6th day of indictment, Prince Gleb measured... 10,000 and 4,000 fathoms.” From a comparison of this result with the measurements of topographers, a fathom value of 151.4 cm was obtained. The results of measurements of temples and the value of Russian folk measures coincided with this value. There were fathomed measuring ropes and wooden “folds” that were used in measuring distances and in construction.

According to historians and architects, there were more than 10 fathoms and they had their own names, were incommensurable and not multiples of one another. Fathoms: city - 284.8 cm, untitled - 258.4 cm, great - 244.0 cm, Greek - 230.4 cm, state - 217.6 cm, royal - 197.4 cm, church - 186.4 cm, folk - 176.0 cm, masonry - 159.7 cm, simple - 150.8 cm, small - 142.4 cm and another one without a name - 134.5 cm (data from one source), as well as - courtyard, pavement.

Makhovaya fathom- the distance between the ends of the middle fingers of arms outstretched to the sides is 1.76 m.

OBLIQUE FATHOUS(originally "splait") - 2.48 m.

Fathoms were used before the introduction of the metric system of measures.

ELBOW equal to the length of the arm from the fingers to the elbow (according to other sources - “the distance in a straight line from the elbow to the end of the extended middle finger”). The size of this ancient measure of length, according to various sources, ranged from 38 to 47 cm. Since the 16th century, it was gradually replaced by the arshin and in the 19th century it was almost not used.

Elbow is a native ancient Russian measure of length, known already in the 11th century. The value of the Old Russian cubit of 10.25-10.5 vershoks (on average approximately 46-47 cm) was obtained from a comparison of measurements in the Jerusalem Temple made by Abbot Daniel, and later measurements of the same dimensions in an exact copy of this temple - in the main temple of the New Jerusalem Monastery on the Istra River (XVII century). The cubit was widely used in trade as a particularly convenient measure. In the retail trade of canvas, cloth, and linen, the elbow was the main measure. In large wholesale trade, linen, cloth, etc., were supplied in the form of large cuts - “postavs”, the length of which at different times and in different places ranged from 30 to 60 cubits (in places of trade these measures had a specific, well-defined meaning).

VERSHOK equaled 1/16 arshin, 1/4 quarter. In modern terms - 4.44 cm. The name "Vershok" comes from the word "top". In the literature of the 17th century. There are also fractions of an inch - half an inch and a quarter inch.

When determining the height of a person or animal, counting was carried out after two arshins (mandatory for a normal adult): if it was said that the person being measured was 15 vershoks in height, then this meant that he was 2 arshins 15 vershoks, i.e. 209 cm.

For humans, two methods of fully expressing height have been used:

1. combination of “height *** elbows, *** spans”
2. combination "height *** arshin, *** vershoks"

from the 18th century - "*** feet, *** inches"

For small domestic animals they used - “height *** inches”

For trees - “height *** arshins”

Measures of length (used in Russia after the Decree of 1835 and before the introduction of the metric system):

• 1 verst = 500 fathoms = 50 poles = 10 chains = 1.0668 kilometers
• 1 fathom = 3 arshins = 7 feet = 48 vershoks = 2.1336 meters
• Oblique fathom = 2.48 m.
• Mach fathom = 1.76 m.
• 1 arshin = 4 quarters (spans) = 16 vershok = 28 inches = 71.12 cm
  (divisions in vertices were usually applied to arshins)
• 1 cubit = 44 cm (according to various sources from 38 to 47 cm)
• 1 foot = 1/7 fathom = 12 inches = 30.479 cm
• 1 quarter (span, small pip, pyadnitsa, pyada, pyaden, pyadyka) = 4 vershka = 17.78 cm (or 19 cm - according to B.A. Rybakov)
  The name p i d comes from the Old Russian word “metacarpus”, i.e. wrist. One of the oldest measures of length (since the 17th century, “span” was replaced by “quarter arshin”)
  Synonym for "quarter" - "chet"
• Large span = 1/2 cubit = 22-23 cm - the distance between the ends of the extended thumb and middle (or little) finger.
• A “span with somersault” is equal to a small span plus two or three joints of the index or middle finger = 27 - 31 cm.
• 1 vershok = 4 nails (width - 1.1 cm) = 1/4 span = 1/16 arshin = 4.445 centimeters
  - an ancient Russian measure of length equal to the width of two fingers (index and middle).
• 1 finger ~ 2 cm.

New measures (introduced since the 18th century):

• 1 inch = 10 lines = 2.54 cm
  The name comes from Dutch - "thumb". Equal to the width of your thumb or the length of three dry grains of barley taken from the middle part of the ear.
• 1 line = 10 points = 1/10 inch = 2.54 millimeters (example: Mosin’s “three-ruler” - d = 7.62 mm.)
  The line is the width of a wheat grain, approximately 2.54 mm.
• 1 hundredth fathom = 2.134 cm
• 1 point = 0.2540 millimeters
• 1 geographical mile (1/15 degree of the earth's equator) = 7 versts = 7.42 km
  (from the Latin word "milia" - a thousand (steps))
• 1 nautical mile (1 minute of arc of the earth's meridian) = 1.852 km
• 1 English mile = 1.609 km
• 1 yard = 91.44 centimeters

In the second half of the 17th century, the arshin was used together with the vershok in various branches of production. In the “Description Books” of the Armory Chamber of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (1668) it is written: “... a copper regimental cannon, smooth, nicknamed Kashpir, Moscow made, length three arshins and a half-eleven vershok (10.5 vershok) ... Large cast iron archina, Iron lion, with belts, length three arshins, three quarters and a half inch." The ancient Russian measure “elbow” continued to be used in everyday life for measuring cloth, linen and woolen fabrics. As follows from the Trade Book, three cubits are equivalent to two arshins. The span as an ancient measure of length still continued to exist, but since its meaning changed due to agreement with a quarter of the arshin, this name (span) gradually fell out of use. The span was replaced by a quarter arshin.

From the second half of the 18th century, the divisions of the vershok, in connection with the reduction of the arshin and sazhen to a multiple ratio with English measures, were replaced by small English measures: inch, line and point, but only the inch took root. Lines and dots were used relatively little. The lines expressed the dimensions of lamp glasses and the calibers of guns (for example, ten- or 20-line glass, known in everyday life). The dots were used only to determine the sizes of gold and silver coins. In mechanics and mechanical engineering, the inch was divided into 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 parts.

In construction and engineering, dividing fathoms into 100 parts was widely used.

The foot and inch used in Russia are equal in size to English measures.

The decree of 1835 determined the relationship between Russian measures and English ones:

• Fathom= 7 feet
• Arshin= 28 inches

A number of units of measurement (verst divisions) were abolished, and new measures of length came into use: inch, line, point, borrowed from English measures.

Bucket

Bucket - the basic Russian premetric measure of the volume of liquids - bucket = 1/40 barrels = 10 mugs = 30 pounds of water = 20 vodka bottles (0.6) = 16 wine bottles (0.75) = 100 glasses = 200 scales = 12 liters ( 15 l - according to other sources, rare) V. - iron, wooden or leather utensils, mostly cylindrical in shape, with ears or a bow for carrying.

In everyday life, two buckets on the rocker should be in a “woman’s lift.” Division into smaller measures was carried out according to the binary principle: the bucket was divided into 2 half-buckets or 4 quarters of a bucket or 8 half-quarters, as well as into mugs and cups. The oldest “international” measure of volume is “handful”.

Until the middle of the 17th century. the bucket contained 12 mugs; in the second half of the 17th century. the so-called government bucket contained 10 mugs, and a mug contained 10 cups, so the bucket contained 100 cups. Then, according to the decree of 1652, the glasses were made three times larger than before (“three glasses of glasses”). The sales bucket held 8 mugs. The value of the bucket was variable, but the value of the mug was constant, 3 pounds of water (1228.5 grams). The volume of the bucket was 134.297 cubic inches.

Barrel

The barrel, as a measure of liquids, was used mainly in the process of trade with foreigners, who were prohibited from conducting retail trade in wine in small quantities. Equal to 40 buckets (492 l)

The material for making the barrel was chosen depending on its purpose:

• oak- for beer and vegetable oils
• spruce- under water
• Linden- for milk and honey

Most often, small barrels and kegs from 5 to 120 liters were used in peasant life. Large barrels could hold up to forty buckets (forty)

Barrels were also used for washing (beating) linen.

In the 15th century The ancient measures were still common - golvazhnya, lukno and harvesting. In the XVI-XVII centuries. Along with the fairly common korobya and belly, the Vyatka grain measure marten, the Perm sapsa (measure of salt and bread), the Old Russian bast and poshev are often found. The Vyatka marten was considered equal to three Moscow quarters, the saptsa contained 6 pounds of salt and approximately 3 pounds of rye, bast - 5 pounds of salt, poshev - about 15 pounds of salt.

Household measures of the volume of liquids were very diverse and were widely used even at the end of the 17th century: Smolensk barrel, bocha-selyodovka (8 pounds of herring; one and a half times less than Smolensk).

Measuring barrel" ... from edge to edge one and a half arshins, and across - an arshin, and to measure upwards, like a leader, half an arshin".

In everyday life and in trade they used a variety of household vessels: cauldrons, jugs, pots, bratins, valleys. The significance of such household measures varied in different places: for example, the capacity of boilers ranged from half a bucket to 20 buckets. In the 17th century a system of cubic units based on the 7-foot fathom was introduced, and the term cubic (or "cubic") was also introduced. A cubic fathom contained 27 cubic arshins or 343 cubic feet; cubic arshin - 4096 cubic vershoks or 21952 cubic inches.

Wine measures

The Wine Charter of 1781 established that every drinking establishment should have “measures certified in the Treasury Chamber.”

Bucket- Russian premetric measure of the volume of liquids, equal to 12 liters

Quarter= 3 liters (previously it was a narrow-necked glass bottle)

The “bottle” measure appeared in Russia under Peter I.

Russian bottle= 1/20 bucket = 1/2 damask = 5 glasses = 0.6 liters (half a liter appeared later - in the twenties of the 20th century)

Since the bucket held 20 bottles (2 0 * 0.6 = 12 liters), and in trade the count was on buckets, the box still holds 20 bottles.

For wine, the Russian bottle was larger - 0.75 liters.

In Russia, glass production began in a factory way in 1635. The production of glass vessels also dates back to this time. The first domestic bottle was produced at the plant, which was built on the territory of the modern Istra station near Moscow, and the products were, at first, intended exclusively for pharmacists.

Abroad, a standard bottle holds one-sixth of a gallon - in different countries this ranges from 0.63 to 0.76 liters

A flat bottle is called a flask.

Shtof(from German Stof) = 1/10 bucket = 10 glasses = 1.23 l. Appeared under Peter I. Served as a measure of the volume of all alcoholic beverages. The shape of the damask was like a quarter.

Mug(the word means “for drinking in a circle”) = 10 glasses = 1.23 l.

The modern cut glass used to be called " board" ("planed boards"), consisting of fret-boards tied with rope around a wooden bottom.

Charka(Russian measure of liquid) = 1/10 shtofa = 2 scales = 0.123 l.

Stack= 1/6 bottle = 100 grams It was considered the size of a single dose.

Shkalik(popular name - “kosushka”, from the word “mow”, according to the characteristic movement of the hand) = 1/2 cup = 0.06 l.

Quarter(half a scale or 1/16 of a bottle) = 37.5 grams.

Barrelware (that is, for liquid and bulk products) was distinguished by a variety of names depending on the place of production (baklazhka, baklusha, barrels), size and volume - badia, pudovka, sorokovka), its main purpose (resin, salt, wine, tar) and the wood used for their manufacture (oak, pine, linden, aspen). Finished cooperage products were divided into buckets, tubs, vats, kegs and casks.

Endova. Wooden or metal utensils (often decorated with ornaments) used for serving drinks. It was a low bowl with a spout. The metal valley was made of copper or brass. Wooden valleys were made from aspen, linden or birch.

Leather bag(skin) - up to 60 l

Korchaga- 12 l

Nozzle- 2.5 buckets (Nogorod liquid measure, 15th century)

Ladle, Jug,Tub- height of the vessel - 30-35 centimeters, diameter - 40 centimeters, volume - 2 buckets or 22-25 liters

Krynki, Sudenets, bowls, Tuesa, Box- from solid pieces of bast, sewn together with strips of bast. The bottom and top cover are made of boards. Sizes - from small boxes to large chests of drawers

Balakir- a dugout wooden vessel, 1/4-1/5 in volume, buckets.

As a rule, in the central and western parts of Russia, measuring containers for storing milk were proportional to the daily needs of the family and consisted of a variety of clay pots, pots, milk pans, lids, jugs, throats, milking bowls, birch bark with lids, containers, the capacity of which was approximately 1 /4- 1/2 bucket (about 3-5 l). The containers of makhotok, stavtsy, tuesk, in which fermented milk products were kept - sour cream, yogurt and cream, approximately corresponded to 1/8 of a bucket.

Kvass was prepared for the whole family in vats, tubs, barrels and tubs (lagushki, izhemki, etc.) with a capacity of up to 20 buckets, and for a wedding - for 40 or more poods. In drinking establishments in Russia, kvass was usually served in kvass pots, decanters and jugs, the capacity of which varied in different areas from 1/8-1/16 to about 1/3-1/4 of a bucket. The commercial measure of kvass in the central regions of Russia was a large clay (drinking) glass and jug.

Under Ivan the Terrible, eagle-shaped (branded with the sign of an eagle), that is, standardized drinking measures: bucket, octagon, half-octagon, stop and mug, first appeared in Russia.

Despite the fact that valleys, ladles, staves, stacks remained in use, and for small sales - hooks (cups with a long hook at the end instead of a handle, hanging along the edges of the valley).

In Old Russian measures and in vessels used for drinking, the principle of volume ratio is 1: 2: 4: 8: 16.

Ancient volume measures:

• 1 cu. fathom = 9.713 cubic meters meters
• 1 cu. arshin = 0.3597 cubic meters meters
• 1 cu. vershok = 87.82 cubic meters. cm
• 1 cu. ft = 28.32 cu. decimeter (liter)
• 1 cu. inch = 16.39 cu. cm
• 1 cu. line = 16.39 cu. mm
• 1 quart is a little more than a liter.

In trade practice and in everyday life, according to L.F. Magnitsky, the following measures of bulk solids (“grain measures”) were used for a long time:

flipper- 12 quarters

quarter(chet) - 1/4 part of cadi

octopus(eighth - eighth part)

Kad(tub, shackle) = 20 buckets or more
Big tub - bigger tub

Tsybik- box (of tea) = 40 to 80 pounds (by weight).
Details: Tea was compacted tightly into wooden boxes, “tsibiki” - leather-covered frames, in the shape of a square (two feet on a side), braided on the outside with reeds in two or three layers, which could be carried by two people. In Siberia, such a box of tea was called Umesta (“Place” is a possible option).

half an octagon
quadruple

Liquid measures ("wine measures"):

• barrel(40 buckets)
• boiler(from half a bucket to 20 buckets)
• bucket
• half a bucket
• quarter bucket
• osmuha (1/8)
• crush(1/16 bucket)

Measures of volume of liquid and granular bodies:

• 1 quarter= 2.099 hectoliters = 209.9 l
• 1 quadruple(“measure”) = 2.624 deciliters = 26.24 l
• 1 garnets= 3.280 liters

Weights :

In Rus', the following weight measures (Old Russian) were used in trade:

• Berkovets= 10 pounds
• pood= 40 lbs = 16.38 kg
• lb. (hryvnia) = 96 spools = 0.41 kg
• lot= 3 spools = 12.797 g
• spool= 4.27 g
• share= 0.044 g

The hryvnia (later pound) remained unchanged. The word "hryvnia" was used to designate both a weight and a monetary unit. This is the most common measure of weight in retail and craft applications. It was also used for weighing metals, in particular gold and silver.

BERKOVETS- this large measure of weight was used in wholesale trade mainly for weighing wax, honey, etc.

Berkovets - from the name of the island of Bjerk. This is what was called in Rus' a measure of weight of 10 pounds, just a standard barrel of wax, which one person could roll onto a merchant boat sailing to this very island. (163.8 kg).

There is a known mention of Berkovets in the 12th century in the charter of Prince Vsevolod Gabriel Mstislavich to the Novgorod merchants.

GOLDEN equaled 1/96 of a pound, in modern terms 4.26 g. They said about it: “the spool is small but expensive.” This word originally meant a gold coin.

LB(from the Latin word "pondus" - weight, weight) was equal to 32 lots, 96 spools, 1/40 pood, in modern terms 409.50 g. Used in combinations: "not a pound of raisins", "find out how much a pound of raisins is."

The Russian pound was adopted under Alexei Mikhailovich.

Sugar was sold by the pound.

They bought tea with gold coins. Spool= 4.266g.

Until recently, a small packet of tea weighing 50 grams was called an “octam” (1/8 pound)

LOT- Old Russian unit of mass measurement, equal to three spools or 12.797 grams.

SHARE- the smallest old Russian unit of mass measurement, equal to 1/96 of a spool or 0.044 grams.

PUD equaled 40 pounds, in modern terms - 16.38 kg. It was already used in the 12th century.
Pud - (from the Latin pondus - weight, heaviness) is not only a measure of weight, but also a weighing device. When weighing metals, the pud was both a unit of measurement and a unit of counting. Even when the results of weighings were reported to tens and hundreds of poods, they were not transferred to Berkovites.

Back in the XI-XII centuries. they used various scales with equal-armed and unequal-armed beams: “pud” - a type of scale with a variable fulcrum and a fixed weight, “skalvy” - equal-armed scales (two-cup).

The pud as a unit of mass was abolished in the USSR in 1924.

Measures of weight used in the 18th century:

Note: the most used at that time (XVIII century) are highlighted

Area measures

The main measure of area was considered tithe, as well as tithe shares: half a tithe, a quarter (a quarter was 40 fathoms in length and 30 in breadth) and so on. Land surveyors used (especially after the “Cathedral Code” of 1649) mainly the official three-arshine fathom, equal to 2.1336 m, so a tithe of 2400 square fathoms was equal to approximately 1.093 hectares.

The scale of use of tithes and quarters grew in accordance with the development of land and the increase in the territory of the state. However, already in the first half of the 16th century it became clear that when measuring lands in quarters, the general inventory of lands would take many years. And then, in the 40s of the 16th century, one of the most enlightened people, Ermolai Erasmus, proposed using a larger unit - a tetrahedral field, which meant a square area with a side of 1000 fathoms. This proposal was not accepted, but played a certain role in the process of introducing the large plow. Ermolai Erasmus is one of the first theoretical metrologists, who also sought to combine the solution of metrological and social issues. When determining the areas of hayfields, tithes were introduced with great difficulty because the lands were inconvenient for measurement due to their location and irregular shapes. The most commonly used yield measure was a haystack. Gradually, this measure acquired a meaning linked to the tithe, and was divided into 2 half-shocks, 4 quarter-shocks, 8 half-quarters of a hay, etc. Over time, a haystack, as a measure of area, was equated to 0.1 tithes (i.e., it was believed that an average of 10 copecks of hay were taken from a tithe). Labor and sowing measures were expressed through a geometric measure - tithe.

Surface area measures:

1 sq. verst = 250,000 square fathoms = 1.138 sq. kilometers
1 tithe = 2400 square fathoms = 1.093 hectares
1 kopn = 0.1 tithe
1 sq. fathom = 16 square arshins = 4.552 sq. meters
1 sq. arshin=0.5058 sq. meters
1 sq. vershok=19.76 sq. cm
1 sq. ft=9.29 sq. inches=0.0929 sq. m
1 sq. inch=6.452 sq. centimeter
1 sq. line=6.452 sq. millimeters

Units of measurement in Rus' in the 18th century

By the 18th century, there were up to 400 units of measures of different sizes used in different countries. The variety of measures made trading operations difficult. Therefore, each state sought to establish uniform measures for its country.

In Russia, back in the 16th and 17th centuries, uniform systems of measures were defined for the entire country. In the 18th century In connection with economic development and the need for strict accounting in foreign trade, the question of measurement accuracy and the creation of standards on the basis of which calibration work ("metrology") could be organized in Russia arose.

The question of choosing standards from the many existing ones (both domestic and overseas) turned out to be difficult. In the middle of the 18th century. foreign coins and precious metals were weighed at customs upon arrival, and then reweighed repeatedly at the mints; At the same time, the weight turned out to be different.

By the mid-30s of the 18th century. There was an opinion that, more precisely, the scales at the St. Petersburg customs office. It was decided to make model scales from the customs scales, place them under the Senate and carry out verification using them.

A ruler that previously belonged to Peter I served as an example of a measure of length when determining the size of an arshin and a sazhen. The ruler was marked with a half-arshin. Using this half-arshin measure, samples of length measures were made - a copper arshin and a wooden fathom.

Among the measures of bulk solids received by the Commission, the quadrangle of the Moscow Big Customs was selected, according to which the measurements of bulk solids in other cities were verified.

The basis for liquid measurements was a bucket sent from the Kamennomostsky drinking yard in Moscow.

In 1736, the Senate decided to form a Commission of Weights and Measures, headed by the chief director of the Monetary Board, Count Mikhail Gavrilovich Golovkin. The commission created exemplary measures - standards, established the relationship of various measures to each other, and developed a project for organizing verification work in the country. A project was introduced on the decimal construction of measures, taking into account the fact that the Russian monetary account system was built on the decimal principle.

Having decided on the starting units of measures, the Commission began to establish connections between different units of measurement using measures of length. Determine the volume of the bucket and quadrangle. The volume of the bucket was 136.297 cubic vershok, and the volume of the four-piece was 286.421 cubic vershok. The result of the work of the Commission was the “Regulations...”

According to the arshin, the value of which was determined by the Commission of 1736-1742, it was recommended in 1745 to produce arshins “in the entire Russian state.” In accordance with the volume of the quadrangle adopted by the Commission, in the second half of the 18th century. Quadruples, half-octagons and octagons were made.

Under Paul I, by decree of April 29, 1797 on the “Establishment of correct scales, drinking and grain measures throughout the Russian Empire,” a lot of work began on streamlining measures and weights. Its completion dates back to the 30s of the 19th century. The decree of 1797 was drawn up in the form of desirable recommendations. The decree concerned four issues of measurement: weighing instruments, weight measures, measures of liquid and granular bodies. Both the weighing instruments and all the measures had to be replaced, for which it was planned to cast cast iron measures.

By 1807, three arshin standards were made (stored in St. Petersburg): crystal, steel and copper. The basis for determining their value was the reduction of arshin and fathom to a multiple ratio with English. measures - in fathoms 7 English feet, in arshins - 28 English. inches. The standards were approved by Alexander I and transferred for storage to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 52 copper tetrahedral arshins were made to be sent to each province. It is interesting that before this, the saying: “Measure by your own yardstick” literally corresponded to reality. Sellers measured the length of the fabric with a yardstick - using a drawbar from their shoulder.

On July 10, 1810, the State Council of Russia decided to introduce a single measure of length throughout the country - the standard 16 vershok arshin (71.12 cm). It was ordered to introduce state-branded yardsticks priced at 1 silver ruble in all provinces, with the simultaneous withdrawal of old yardstick templates.

Stage

Stage [Greek. stadion - stages (measure of length)] - this ancient measure of distances is more than two thousand years old (from it - Stadium in other Greece; Greek stadion - place for competitions). The size of the stage is about two hundred meters. “...directly opposite the city lay the island of Pharos, on the northern tip of which stood the famous lighthouse of the same name, built of white marble, connected to the city by a long pier called the septastadion (7 stages)” (F.A. Brockhaus, I. A. Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary)

Ancient measures in modern language

In modern Russian, ancient units of measurement and words denoting them have been preserved mainly in the form of proverbs and sayings

sayings:

“You write in big letters” - large
"Kolomenskaya Versta" is a humorous name for a very tall person.
"Oblique fathoms in the shoulders" - broad-shouldered

in poetry:

You can’t understand Russia with your mind, you can’t measure it with a common (official) yardstick. Tyutchev

Currency units

• Quarter = 25 rubles
• Ruble = 2 half
• Tselkovy - the colloquial name for the metal ruble
• Poltina = 50 kopecks
• Quarter = 25 kopecks
• Five-altyn = 15 kopecks
• Altyn = 3 kopecks
• Dime = 10 kopecks
• kidney = 1 half
• 2 money = 1 kopeck
• 1/2 copper money (half a coin) = 1 kopeck.
• Grosh (copper penny) = 2 kopecks.
• Polushka (otherwise half money) was equal to one kopeck. This is the smallest unit in the ancient money account. Since 1700, half coins were minted from copper = 1/2 copper money was equal to 1 kopeck.

Foreign names:

Pint is an old French measure of liquids, about 0.9 liters; in England and the USA - a measure of the volume of liquids and bread, approximately 0.57 l
Eighth of a pound = 1/8 pound
Gallon English - 4.546 l
Barrel - 159 l
Carat - 0.2 g, weight of wheat grain
Ounce - 28.35 g
English pound - 0.45359 kg
1 stone = 14 pounds = 6.35 kilograms
1 small handweight = 100 pounds = 45.36 kg.
Yard -91.44 cm.
Nautical mile - 1852 m
1 cable - tenth of a mile
Rhumb - 11 1/4° = 1/32 fraction of a circle - unit of angular measure
Sea knot (speed) = 1 mph

Ancient Russian quantities:

Quarter - quarter, quarter
"a quarter of wine" = a fourth of a bucket.
"quadruple grain" = 1/4 cady
kad - an old Russian measure of bulk solids (usually four pounds)
Osmina, osmukha - eighth (eighth) part = 1/8
An eighth of a pound was called osmushka ("octam of tea").
"a quarter to eight" - time = 7:45 am or pm
Five - five units of weight or length
A ream is a measure of paper, formerly equal to 480 sheets; later - 1000 sheets
"one hundred and eighty osmago November day of osmago" - 188 November eighth
Pregnancy is a burden, an armful, as much as you can wrap your arms around.
Half a third - two and a half
Half a point = 4.5
Half elevenths = 10.5
Half a hundred - two hundred and fifty
Field - "arena, lists" (115 steps - a variant of the magnitude), later - the first name and synonym for "verst" (field - million - mile), Dahl has a variant meaning of this word: "daily march, about 20 versts"
“Printed fathom” - official (standard, with a state stamp), measured, three arshins
A cut is an amount of material in a single piece of fabric sufficient to make any clothing (for example, a shirt)
“No estimate” - no number
Perfect, perfect - suitable, to match

One of the basic subjects studied at school is mathematics. But the rules of counting were not always the same as those taught to modern schoolchildren. And it’s not even about the formulas, laws, sequences and interdependencies discovered by the scientific community. The very measures used to measure objects used to be completely different. Of course, outdated units are rarely needed in everyday life, but an educated person should understand what “elbow”, “verst” and “fathom” mean in order to understand what we are talking about if faced with such a definition of the dimensions of an object or space. Ancient measures of measurement are taught as part of a general education course at school, and you can also familiarize yourself with it yourself - for example, from this article.

Useful, relevant, modern

Each of us, at least once in our lives, has come across sayings with ancient measures of measurement, but not everyone understood what dimensions we were talking about. To be sure that we accurately process incoming information, to consider ourselves educated people, modern, but aware of our history, it is important to know what terms mean what. Despite the fact that in our time ancient measures of measurement are found mainly in literature, it is necessary to know what ideas about numbers were in ancient times, because it was then that the foundations of modern arithmetic were laid, as well as ideas about proportionality.

If you become familiar with the foundations on which the modern system of units of measurement is built, you can learn more about the historical past of the state and nation. At school age, such a general introduction course makes it possible to interest schoolchildren - after all, everyone will want to show off their unique knowledge about ancient volume measures in Ancient Rus' in front of their peers. Thus, such information is useful, interesting, and easy to digest, as it arouses curiosity.

Information: is it all that simple?

To understand what ancient measures of measurement were in use, it is necessary to process many sources of information. A considerable amount can be gleaned from literature, very different - from classics to children's fairy tales. Familiarity with sayings and proverbs provides useful information. A lot of information can be gleaned from conversations with older people who in former times used ancient measures of measurement. Of course, a huge amount of information has been collected by scientists working on this issue.

Preserving and systematizing data on ancient measures of quantities allows us to preserve important historical information for the future, because the ideas about arithmetic that existed in former times also provide data about some features of the structure of society. Wisdom has been known since ancient times: the world is ruled by the one to whom numbers obey.

Ancient history

As historians have found, numbers were important to people in ancient times. At first they counted animals, fruits, products, and other representatives of society. Moreover, at first people didn’t even use numbers - they didn’t exist yet. Initially, the number of objects was compared with something characteristic of a person - the number of fingers, eyes or hands. The next step was counting on fingers. When describing the number of some objects, one could say “he has two arms and a leg,” which meant 15 pieces. The concept “whole person” described a collection of 20 objects.

Humanity developed, and at the same time arithmetic also developed, which led to the invention of numbers that were generally accepted among ordinary people. The population of Ancient Rus' paid special attention to the number “seven”. This can be seen from the sayings that have reached us. For example, as you know, even if seven troubles happen, there will still be one answer to them. With the same number there is a well-known saying about being late: seven do not wait for one. Economic activity became more complex, people felt the need for more complex measures of measurement, and in the absence of specialized terminology, concepts were literally invented from the surrounding space. For example, the original pebble counting evolved over time to the counts still in use today.

Man and the measurement system

When it became clear that humanity needed more complex measurement systems than pebbles and fingers, the first thing that was used to create the metric system was the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe proportionality of the human body. That is why ancient measures of length are designated by parts of the human body. The smallest unit, often used in everyday life, was equal to the distance separating the index finger from the thumb, if you spread them apart. If we compare ancient measures of length with modern ones, then this value is about 19 cm. In former times it was called a small span. There was also a large span, for the modern metric system it is 22.5 cm. It was calculated as the distance from the little finger to the thumb, if the fingers are spread apart. This ancient metric system is reflected in the name of the icons - “pyadnitsy” were 19-23 cm in size. Bricks produced in the 12th century were of the same size as they were intended to be laid by hand.

More and more

Of course, ancient measures of measurement in Rus' suggested measuring much larger quantities than two dozen centimeters. Here, too, measures were used that had their roots in the structural features of the human body. For example, when it was necessary to buy fabric, they usually told how many elbows needed to be measured. This measure meant the length from the tips of straightened fingers to the elbow. However, in some cases the hand was clenched into a fist, and only then the elbow was measured. As a rule, canvas was measured by elbows - one of the most durable materials, used in former times everywhere, from household purposes to clothing production.

An even larger ancient unit of measurement in Rus' was called the sazhen. This distance implied the number of centimeters separating the foot from the fingertips of the hand extended upward. In the modern metric system, a fathom is about 215 cm. However, it was such if the height of the person by which the fathom was measured was about 171 cm. An alternative option was called a simple fathom and was officially measured on the Tmutarakan stone. The inscription on this historical monument testifies to how large the width was at the time of ancient exploration. A simple fathom was determined by average height and was equal to the distance from the fingertips of one hand to the fingertips of the other, if you spread your arms to the sides. The fathom was divided into quarters, into 8 parts, thus obtaining a cubit, a span. Presumably, on the basis of a simple fathom, over time, a three-arshin was introduced.

Quite big!

When it was necessary to talk about large distances, for measuring which human height was completely unsuitable, the “verst” measure was used. Its alternative name is field. Verst is mentioned in numerous proverbs and sayings about ancient measures of measurement. It is known that the term has been in use since the eleventh century. Currently, scientists agree that the most accurate estimate of a fathom is a kilometer and 67 meters. At the same time, it must be taken into account that during the period of feudal fragmentation, the territory of each individual principality established its own measurement measures, which often did not coincide with those adopted by its neighbors.

Many measures used in ancient Rus' changed over time. For example, the same cubit depended on the ruler of a particular principality, who had the right to establish a standard value corresponding to the size of his body. Whatever the size of the merchants and sellers, it was necessary to use exactly the elbow that was set by those in power. What joy the merchant class had in those days if power in the principality passed to a child or teenager! Well, ordinary people came up with more and more new proverbs and sayings with ancient measures of measurement, designed to reflect both worldly wisdom and the severity of the injustice that reigned around.

Size is not just length

Measuring length was not the only need in earlier times (as in other times today). No less significant were the measures that could be used to characterize bulk products. Most often, ancient mass measures were used for grain crops. In Kievan Rus, in the principalities from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, rye, oats and wheat were measured in tubs, which, if necessary, could be divided into two, four or eight parts. One tub in the modern measurement system is approximately 230 kg.

From the sixteenth century to two centuries, the main ancient ancient measure of volume in the principalities that make up modern Russia and neighboring countries was a quarter. One quarter consisted of six pounds. Initially, the formation of these values ​​was based on the amount of grain that peasants sown in the fields. Over time, the measures, of course, underwent changes. Let's say, shortly before the revolution in the Russian Empire, the main measures were a quarter and a tithe; the first value was two times less than the second. As can be seen from the data collected by historians, ancient measures of length, mass, and volume are closely related to the banknotes and methods of payment for goods that were in use at that time.

Small spool but precious

Who hasn't heard this proverb? There are many other folk wisdoms with ancient measures of measurement. Despite the fact that these units of measurement have already left our everyday life, their names will be preserved for posterity for many centuries to come as a treasure trove of folk wisdom. True, even modern people have little idea what the word “spool” means.

This term can be found in historical artifacts that have come down to us from the times of Kievan Rus. At the same time, pud and berkovets were in use. To this day, scientists do not know for sure whether the spool was a measure of weight or whether it designated a coin made of gold. In the same way, it is not possible to establish exactly how much a pud, a berkowets, meant at first. Over time, the following values ​​were established: pood - 16.4 kg, Berkovets - 10 poods. One pood contained 40 pounds. Mention of these measures can be found in the proverb with ancient measures of measurement “a ruble of copper, and a pound of paper.”

Wisdom and compatibility

As can be seen from the sayings about ancient measures of measurement, in ancient times people more than once encountered difficulties associated with the system of measures. It is not surprising, because everyone had their own elbow, and everyone strived for their own benefit. Due to the incorrect description of the distance, people got confused in maps and could not determine exactly how much time was needed for the journey, and other misunderstandings plagued everyday life quite often. And it’s good if it just caused irritation, but it was possible to cause the feudal lord’s displeasure, which often threatened with punishment. And what gentleman would want to listen to an explanation where the main blame was shifted to the imperfections of the current metric system?

There are known cases when imperfections in the measurement system even provoked massive popular unrest. Already in those days it was clear that it was necessary to somehow streamline the current system, otherwise there was no point in counting on the progress of society in the future. In addition, since ancient times it has been human nature to strive for justice. This eventually caused the transition to the metric system that we currently use.

Fairy tales and measures

Both the measures of measurement used in ancient times and the incidents associated with them can be learned from folk tales. This category of folk art is of particular interest, since in former times fairy tales were passed on from mouth to mouth, and were not written down on paper, and therefore gradually changed. The tales of each locality reflect the peculiarities of life in that area. Most often in such sources you can find references to arshin, fathom, verst, pood. From this we can rightly conclude that these were the units of measurement that were used by ordinary people in everyday life.

Very interesting observations about ancient measures of volume, length and mass can be made from the fairy tale “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” as well as from collections of folk tales and epics. But in the legend about the sea king and Vasilisa there is a mention of punishment for guilt - transfer to the management of the site “thirty miles in length and across.” It is difficult for a modern person to imagine how large this territory is (although according to the meaning of the legend it is clear that we are talking about an impressive area). If we use information about the approximate correspondence of modern measures of length, it turns out that a square is described with a width and length of 32 kilometers and 40 meters. This is the scale!

There are no boundaries for perfection

As can be seen from history, the measurement system invented in ancient times, based on the dimensions of the human body, turned out to be quite convenient - it was in use for almost half a millennium, despite certain imperfections. States, power, borders, and the structure of society changed, but arshins and pounds remained in everyday use as irreplaceable parts of a person’s everyday life, his idea of ​​the surrounding space. The most used quantities introduced in the 11th century could be found in everyday life even in the 20th century.

As you can see, those values ​​that “survived” the longest were those that denoted fairly large sizes, dimensions, and spaces. For example, the cubit, used in earlier times, was eventually replaced by the arshin, which remained in use for a long time. As research shows, the elbow was used for quite a long time in the northern regions of modern Russia, but in the south it was no longer used. And the smallest ancient value, used for a long time in various Slavic tribes, and then in Rus' and Russia, was called vershok. And to this day the word is familiar to many from sayings and sayings. The tip was equal to the length of the phalanx of the index finger.

What currently?

Nowadays, ancient measures of measurement have lost their original meaning, but still accompany modern man. Yes, we no longer measure distance in miles and weight in pounds, we have kilometers and kilograms. Nevertheless, we still “share a peck of salt” with true friends, fighting problems “one like a finger.” Having left practical use as the metric system, units of measurement remained with us as phraseological units and sayings, reflecting the wisdom accumulated by the people.

One can constantly see mentions of ancient measures in classical literature; at the same time, folk tales, legends and epics are rich in such phrases. Most often you can find references to the finger, arshin, vershok, verst. Of course, fathom, span, pound are also used in fiction.

The metric system as a science

Nowadays, one of the main units for measurement is the meter. Even in the word “metric” we can see the same root - “meter”. It was first proposed by French scientists in the 18th century. The word was formed from a Greek source - “measure” in Greek sounds like “meter”.

Every year, Metrology Day is celebrated all over the world, which falls on May 20th. The international event is usually marked by works and speeches dedicated to new inventions, developments, and improvements to the measurement system and the instruments used for it. On this day, humanity pays tribute to the merits of metrologists who streamline our lives and make it clearer, more correct and fair.

Proverbs and sayings

What proverbs and folk wisdom mention previously used systems of measures? Below are good examples that we come across in everyday life.

The following folk wisdom is indicative:

• "No step back!" (the step in the previous metric system was 71 centimeters).
• “There are 7 spans in the forehead” (as much as 189 cm!).
• “I conquered the kingdom in one step” (to conquer something by walking nothing, only 71 centimeters).
• “The pot is two inches away, and it’s already pointing!” (some 9 centimeters, that is, nothing at all, but he already controls those around him).
• You can save a pound of grain(one grain can save 16 and a half kilograms).

Folk wisdom for everyday life

Of course, not everyone these days needs to be able to convert ancient measures of measurement into those familiar to us. If you suddenly need such information, you can always find sources that reflect what corresponds to what in centimeters and grams. It is much more important for a modern person to have a general understanding of the metric system that existed in the past and the rules of its application, as well as the meaning inherent in sayings and proverbs, epics and fairy tales that have survived to this day.

The metric system is also important from the point of view that it helps develop interest in mathematics among schoolchildren, and allows historians to more accurately restore events, artifacts, and rules that governed the life of society in former times.