View source for Cubit

{{Short description|Ancient unit of length}}
{{other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Qubit|text=the basic unit of quantum computing, the [[Qubit]]}}
{{use list-defined references|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}

[[File:Cubit rule Egyptian NK from Liverpool museum.jpg|thumb|Egyptian cubit rod in the [[Liverpool World Museum]]]]
[[File:Measuring ruler-N 1538-IMG 4492-gradient.jpg|thumb|Cubit rod of [[Maya (Egyptian)|Maya]], 52.3&nbsp;cm long, 1336–1327&nbsp;BC ([[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth Dynasty]])]]

The '''cubit''' is an ancient [[unit of length]] based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cubit | title=Definition of CUBIT | date=2 February 2024 }}</ref> It was primarily associated with the [[Sumerians]], [[Egyptians]], and [[Israelites]]. The term ''cubit'' is found in the [[Bible]] regarding [[Noah's Ark]], the [[Ark of the Covenant]], the [[Tabernacle]], and [[Solomon's Temple]]. The ''common cubit'' was divided into 6 [[palm (unit)|palms]] × 4 [[Finger (unit)|fingers]] = 24 [[digit (unit)|digits]].<ref>[[Vitruvian Man]].</ref> ''Royal cubits'' added a palm for 7 palms × 4 fingers = 28 digits.<ref>Stephen Skinner, ''Sacred Geometry – Deciphering The Code'' (Sterling, 2009) & many other sources.</ref> These lengths typically ranged from {{convert|44.4|to|52.92|cm|ftin|frac=16|abbr=on}}, with an ancient Roman cubit being as long as {{convert|120|cm|ftin|0|abbr=on}}.

Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in [[ancient history|antiquity]], during the [[Middle Ages]] and as recently as [[Early modern Europe|early modern times]]. The term is still used in [[hedgelaying]], the length of the forearm being frequently used to determine the interval between stakes placed within the hedge.<ref name="green man">{{cite web |last1=Hart |first1=Sarah |title=The Green Man |url=http://www.shropshirehedgelaying.co.uk/hedgelaying_article_3.php |website=Shropshire Hedgelaying |publisher=Oliver Liebscher <!-- pages' HTML includes: meta name="author" content="Oliver Liebscher" --> |access-date=18 May 2017 |quote=On the roadside the finish is clean and neat, a living fence of intertwined branches between stakes placed an old cubit (the length of a man's forearm or approximately 18 inches) apart. |archive-date=17 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117055558/http://shropshirehedgelaying.co.uk/hedgelaying_article_3.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Etymology==
The English word "cubit" comes from the [[Latin language|Latin]] noun {{lang|la|cubitum}} "elbow", from the verb {{lang|la|cubo, cubare, cubui, cubitum}} "to lie down",<ref>''Cassell's Latin Dictionary''</ref> from which also comes the adjective "[[wikt:recumbent|recumbent]]".<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', Second edition, 1989; online version September 2011. ''s.v.'' "[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/45477 cubit]"</ref>

==Ancient Egyptian royal cubit==
{{main|Ancient Egyptian units of measurement}}
The [[ancient Egyptian]] '''royal cubit''' ({{transliteration|egy|''meh niswt''}}) is the earliest attested standard measure. Cubit rods were used for the [[Ancient Egyptian units of measurement|measurement of length]]. A number of these rods have survived: two are known from the tomb of [[Maya (Egyptian)|Maya]], the treasurer of the [[18th dynasty]] pharaoh [[Tutankhamun]], in [[Saqqara]]; another was found in the tomb of Kha ([[TT8]]) in [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]]. Fourteen such rods, including one double cubit rod, were described and compared by Lepsius in 1865.<ref name="lepsius" /> These cubit rods range from {{convert|523.5|to|529.2|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} in length and are divided into seven [[palm (unit)|palms]]; each palm is divided into four [[digit (unit)|fingers]], and the fingers are further subdivided.<ref name="clagett" /><ref name="lepsius" /><ref name="arnold" />
{{Wide image|Cubit rod Turin Museum.PNG|600|Cubit rod from the [[Museo Egizio|Egyptian Museum of Turin]]}}
{| style="width: 175px; float: right; border: 1px solid #BBB; margin: 0.01em 0 0 0.2em;"
|- 
| align="center" valign="center";|<hiero>M23-t:n-D42</hiero>
<small>[[Hieroglyph]] of the royal cubit, {{transliteration|egy|''meh niswt''}}</small>
|}
Early evidence for the use of this royal cubit comes from the [[Early Dynastic Period of Egypt|Early Dynastic Period]]: on the [[Palermo Stone]], the flood level of the [[Nile]] river during the reign of the [[Pharaoh]] [[Djer]] is given as measuring 6&nbsp;cubits and 1&nbsp;palm.<ref name="clagett" /> Use of the royal cubit is also known from [[Old Kingdom]] architecture, from at least as early as the construction of the [[Pyramid of Djoser|Step Pyramid of Djoser]] designed by [[Imhotep]] in around 2700&nbsp;BC.<ref name="lauer" />

==Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement==
[[File:Nippur cubit.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|The Nippur cubit-rod in the [[Istanbul Archaeology Museums|Archeological Museum]] of [[Istanbul]], Turkey]]
[[Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement]] originated in the loosely organized city-states of [[Early Dynastic Period of Sumer#Early Dynastic period|Early Dynastic]] [[Sumer]].  Each [[city]], [[Monarchy|kingdom]] and trade [[guild]] had its own standards until the formation of the [[Akkadian Empire]] when [[Sargon of Akkad]] issued a common standard.  This standard was improved by [[Naram-Sin of Akkad|Naram-Sin]], but fell into disuse after the Akkadian Empire dissolved.  The standard of Naram-Sin was readopted in the [[Third Dynasty of Ur|Ur III period]] by the [[Nanše Hymn]] which reduced a plethora of multiple standards to a few agreed upon common groupings.  Successors to Sumerian civilization including the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians continued to use these groupings.

The Classical Mesopotamian system formed the basis for [[Elam]]ite, Hebrew, [[Urartu|Urartian]], Hurrian, Hittite, [[Ugarit]]ic, [[Phoenicia]]n, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Arabic, and Islamic metrologies.<ref>Conder 1908, p. 87.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=July 2018}} The Classical Mesopotamian System also has a proportional relationship, by virtue of standardized commerce, to [[Bronze Age]] Harappan and Egyptian metrologies.

In 1916, during the last years of the [[Ottoman Empire]] and in the middle of [[World War I]], the German [[Assyriology|assyriologist]] [[Eckhard Unger]] found a copper-alloy bar while excavating at Nippur. The bar dates from {{circa|2650&nbsp;BCE}} and Unger claimed it was used as a measurement standard. This irregularly formed and irregularly marked graduated rule supposedly defined the Sumerian cubit as about {{convert|518.6|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}}.<ref name=acta/>

There is some evidence that cubits were used to measure angular separation.  The Babylonian Astronomical Diary for 568–567 BCE refers to Jupiter being one cubit behind the elbow of Sagittarius.  One cubit measures about 2 degrees.<ref>Steele, John M., ''A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East'' (SAQI, 2008), pp. 41–42.  Steele does not elaborate on the relationship between the cubit as a unit of length and a unit of angular separation.</ref>

== Late Assyrian cubits ==
Ancient Assyrian units of measure appear to exhibit significant variability. However, based on analysis of careful measurement of sculptured slabs and figures from [[Dur-Sharrukin|Khorsabad]], dating to the time of [[Sargon II]], now held in Western museums, it appears that standard measures did exist.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Guralnick | first=Eleanor | title=Sargonid Sculpture and the Late Assyrian Cubit | journal=Iraq | volume=58 | year=1996 | issn=0021-0889 | jstor=4200421 | pages=89–103}}
</ref> This analysis, together with information from cuneiform documents from the period, confirm the existence of three Late Assyrian cubits or "kus" as the measure was called in Assyrian literature:

* The ''standard cubit'' (approximately {{cvt|515|mm|disp=semicolon}}), used in most normal situations.
* The ''big cubit'' ({{cvt|566|mm|disp=semicolon}}) is believed to have been reserved for representations of religious and mythological beings.
* The rare ''cubit of the king'' ({{cvt|550|mm|disp=semicolon}}) is believed to have been used for representations of the king.

==Biblical cubit==
{{Main|Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement}}
The standard of the cubit ({{langx|he|אמה}}) in different countries and in different ages has varied. This realization led the rabbis of the 2nd century [[Common Era|CE]] to clarify the length of their cubit, saying that the measure of the cubit of which they have spoken "applies to the cubit of middle-size".<ref name="MishnahMaimonides1967">''Mishnah with Maimonides' Commentary'' (ed. [[Yosef Qafih]]), vol. 3, [[Mossad Harav Kook]]: Jerusalem 1967, ''Middot'' 3:1 [p. 291] (Hebrew).</ref> In this case, the requirement is to make use of a standard 6 handbreadths to each cubit,<ref>[[Mishnah]] (''Kelim'' 17:9–10, pp. [https://archive.org/details/DanbyMishnah/page/n657 629, note 14 – 630]). In the [[Tosefta]] (''Kelim Baba-Metsia'' 6:12–13), however, it brings down a second opinion, namely, that of [[Rabbi Meir]], who distinguishes between a medium-sized cubit of 5 handbreadths, used principally for rabbinic measurements in measuring the bare and untilled ground near a vineyard and where there is a prohibition to grow therein seed plants under the laws of [[Diverse kinds|Diverse Kinds]], and a larger cubit of 6 handbreadths used to measure therewith the altar. Cf. [[Saul Lieberman]], ''Tosefet Rishonim'' (part 3), Jerusalem 1939, p. 54, s.v. איזו היא אמה בינונית, where he brings down a variant reading of the same Tosefta and where it has 6 handbreadths, instead of 5 handbreadths, for the medium size cubit.</ref><ref>Cf. {{cite book|last=Warren|first=C.|author-link=Charles Warren|title=The Ancient Cubit and Our Weights and Measures |publisher=The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|year=1903|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientcubitourw00warruoft/page/4/mode/1up 4]|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientcubitourw00warruoft/page/n3/mode/2up |language=en|oclc=752584387}}</ref> and which handbreadth was not to be confused with an outstretched palm, but rather one that was clenched and which handbreadth has the standard width of 4&nbsp;fingerbreadths (each fingerbreadth being equivalent to the width of a thumb, about 2.25&nbsp;cm).<ref>[[Tosefta]] (''Kelim Baba-Metsia'' 6:12–13)</ref><ref>''Mishnah with Maimonides' Commentary'' (ed. [[Yosef Qafih]]), vol. 1, [[Mossad Harav Kook]]: Jerusalem 1963, ''Kila'im'' 6:6 [p. 127] (Hebrew).</ref> This puts the handbreadth at roughly {{convert|9|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}}, and 6&nbsp;handbreadths (1&nbsp;cubit) at {{convert|54|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}}. [[Epiphanius of Salamis]], in his treatise ''[[On Weights and Measures (Epiphanius)|On Weights and Measures]]'', describes how it was customary, in his day, to take the measurement of the biblical cubit: "The cubit is a measure, but it is taken from the measure of the forearm. For the part from the elbow to the wrist and the palm of the hand is called the cubit, the middle finger of the cubit measure being also extended at the same time and there being added below (it) the span, that is, of the hand, taken all together."<ref>''Epiphanius' Treatise on Weights and Measures – the Syriac Version'' (ed. James Elmer Dean, The University of Chicago Press: Chicago 1935, p.&nbsp;69.</ref>

Rabbi [[Avraham Chaim Naeh]] put the linear measurement of a cubit at {{convert|48|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}}.<ref>Abraham Haim Noe, ''Sefer Ḳuntres ha-Shiʻurim'' (Abridged edition from ''Shiʻurei Torah''), Jerusalem 1943, p. 17 (section 20).</ref> [[Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz]] (the "Chazon Ish"), dissenting, put the length of a cubit at {{convert|57.6|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}.<ref>Chazon Ish, ''Orach Chaim'' 39:14.</ref>

Rabbi and philosopher [[Maimonides]], following the [[Talmud]], makes a distinction between the cubit of 6&nbsp;handbreadths used in ordinary measurements, and the cubit of 5&nbsp;handbreadths used in measuring the [[Altar (Bible)#Altar of Incense|Golden Altar]], the base of the [[Altar (Bible)#Altar of burnt offering|altar of burnt offerings]], its circuit and the horns of the altar.<ref name="MishnahMaimonides1967" />

== Ancient Greece ==
In [[ancient Greek units of measurement]], the standard forearm cubit {{nowrap|({{langx|grc|πῆχυς|pēkhys}})}} measured approximately {{nowrap|{{convert|460|mm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}}.}} The short forearm cubit {{nowrap|({{lang|grc|πυγμή}}  {{transliteration|grc|pygmē}}, {{lit.}} 'fist'),}} from the knuckle of the middle finger (i.e., fist clenched) to the elbow, measured approximately {{nowrap|{{cvt|340|mm|in|frac=2}}}}.<ref>{{citation|title=Anastylosis at Machaerus|first=Gyozo|last=Vörös|magazine=Biblical Archaeology Review|volume=41|issue=1 |date=January–February 2015|page=56}}</ref>

==Ancient Rome==
In [[ancient Rome]], according to [[Vitruvius]], a cubit was equal to {{frac|1|1|2}} [[Ancient Roman units of measurement#Length|Roman feet]] or 6 palm widths (approximately {{convert|444|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on|disp=or}}).<ref name="klein">H. Arthur Klein (1974). [https://books.google.com/books?id=tYZGAAAAYAAJ ''The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey'']. New York: Dover. {{ISBN|9780486258393}}. p. 68.</ref> A 120-centimetre cubit (approximately four feet long), called the Roman ulna, was common in the Roman empire, which cubit was measured from the fingers of the outstretched arm opposite the man's hip.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Stone|first1=Mark H.|title=The Cubit: A History and Measurement Commentary (Review Article)|journal=Journal of Anthropology|date=30 January 2014|volume= 2014 |page=489757 [4]|doi=10.1155/2014/489757|language=en|editor=Kaushik Bose|doi-access=free}}</ref><sup>; also, </sup><ref>{{cite book|last1=Grant|first1=James|title=Thoughts on the Origin and Descent of the Gael: With an Account of the Picts, Caledonians, and Scots; and Observations Relative to the Authenticity of the Poems of Ossian|date=1814|publisher=For A. Constable and Company|location=Edinburgh|page=[https://archive.org/details/thoughtsonorigin01gran_0/page/137 137]|url=https://archive.org/details/thoughtsonorigin01gran_0|access-date=1 January 2018|language=en|quote=Solinus, cap. 45, uses ulna for cubitus, where Pliny speaks of a crocodile of 22 cubits long. Solinus expresses it by so many ulnae, and Julius Pollux uses both words for the same... they call a cubitus an ulna.}}</ref><sup>with</sup><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ozdural|first1=Alpay|editor1-last=Necipoğlu|editor1-first=Gülru|title=Sinan's Arsin: A Survey of Ottoman Architectural Metrology|journal=Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World|date=1998|volume= 15|page=109|location=Leiden, The Netherlands|language=en|issn=0732-2992|quote=... Roman ulna of four feet...|postscript=ISBN 90 04 11084-4}}</ref>

==Islamic world==
In the Islamic world, the cubit ({{transliteration|ar|dhirāʿ}}) had a similar origin, being originally defined as the arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.<ref name="EI2">{{EI2 | last = Hinz | first = W. | title = Dhirāʿ | volume = 2 | pages = 231–232}}</ref> Several different cubit lengths were current in the medieval Islamic world for the unit of length, ranging from {{convert|48.25-145.6|cm|in|abbr=on|frac=32}}, and in turn the {{transliteration|ar|dhirāʿ}} was commonly subdivided into six handsbreadths ({{transliteration|ar|qabḍa}}), and each handsbreadth into four fingerbreadths ({{transliteration|ar|aṣbaʿ}}).<ref name="EI2"/> The most commonly used definitions were:
* the '''legal cubit''' ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-sharʿiyya}}), also known as the hand cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-yad}}), cubit of Yusuf ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-Yūsufiyya}}, named after the 8th-century {{transliteration|ar|[[qadi|qāḍī]]}} Abu Yusuf), postal cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ [[al-barid|al-barīd]]}}), "freed" cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-mursala}}) and thread cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-ghazl}}). It measured {{convert|49.8|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}, although in the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] it measured {{convert|48.25|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}, possibly as a result of reforms of Caliph [[al-Ma'mun]] ({{reign|813|833}}).<ref name="EI2"/>
* the '''black cubit''' ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-sawdāʾ}}), adopted in the Abbasid period and fixed by the measure used in the [[Nilometer]] on [[Rawda Island]] at {{convert|54.04|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}. It is also known as the common cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-ʿāmma}}), sack-cloth cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-kirbās}}), and was the most commonly used in the [[Maghreb]] and [[Islamic Spain]] under the name {{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-Rashshāshiyya}}.<ref name="EI2"/>
* the '''king's cubit''' ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ [[al-malik]]}}), inherited from the [[Sassanid Persia]]ns. It measured eight {{transliteration|ar|qabḍa}} for a total of {{convert|66.5|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} on average. It was this measure used by [[Ziyad ibn Abihi]] for his survey of [[Iraq (region)|Iraq]], and is hence also known as Ziyadi cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-Ziyādiyya}}) or survey cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-misāḥaʾ}}). From Caliph [[al-Mansur]] ({{reign|754|775}}) it was also known as the [[Hashemite]] cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-Hāshimiyya}}). Other identical measures were the work cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-ʿamal}}) and likely also the {{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-hindāsa}}, which measures {{convert|65.6|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}.<ref name="EI2"/>
* the '''cloth cubit''', which fluctuated widely according to region: the Egyptian cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-bazz}} or {{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-baladiyya}}) measured {{convert|58.15|cm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}}, that of [[Damascus]] {{convert|63|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}}, that of [[Aleppo]] {{convert|67.7|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}, that of [[Baghdad]] {{convert|82.9|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}, and that of [[Istanbul]] {{convert|68.6|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}.<ref name="EI2"/>

A variety of more local or specific cubit measures were developed over time: the "small" Hashemite cubit of {{convert|60.05|cm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}}, also known as the cubit of Bilal ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-Bilāliyya}}, named after the 8th-century [[Basra]]n {{transliteration|ar|qāḍī}} Bilal ibn Abi Burda); the Egyptian carpenter's cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ bi'l-najjāri}}) or architect's cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-miʿmāriyya}}) of {{circa|{{convert|77.5|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}}}, reduced and standardized to {{convert|75|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} in the 19th century; the house cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-dār}}) of {{convert|50.3|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}, introduced by the Abbasid-era {{transliteration|ar|qāḍī}} Ibn Abi Layla; the cubit of Umar ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-ʿUmariyya}}) of {{convert|72.8|cm|in}} and its double, the scale cubit ({{transliteration|ar|al-dhirāʿ al-mīzāniyya}}) established by al-Ma'mun and used mainly for measuring canals.<ref name="EI2"/>

In medieval and early modern Persia, the cubit (usually known as {{transliteration|ar|gaz}}) was either the legal cubit of {{cvt|49.8|cm|in|frac=16}}, or the [[Isfahan]] cubit of {{convert|79.8|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}.<ref name="EI2"/> A royal cubit ({{transliteration|ar|gaz-i shāhī}}) appeared in the 17th century with {{convert|95|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}}, while a "shortened" cubit ({{transliteration|ar|gaz-i mukassar}}) of {{convert|6.8|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} (likely derived from the widely used cloth cubit of Aleppo) was used for cloth.<ref name="EI2"/> The measure survived into the 20th century, with 1 {{transliteration|ar|gaz}} equal to {{convert|104|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="EI2"/> [[Mughal India]] also had its own royal cubit ({{transliteration|ar|dhirāʿ-i pādishāhī}}) of {{convert|81.3|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}.<ref name="EI2"/>

==Other systems==
Other measurements based on the length of the forearm include some lengths of [[ell]], the [[Russian units of measurement|Russian]] lokot ({{lang|ru|локоть}}), the Indian [[Hasta (unit)|{{lang|hi|cat=no|hasta}}]], the [[Thai units of measurement|Thai]] {{lang|th|sok}}, the [[Malay units of measurement|Malay]] {{lang|ms|hasta}}, the Tamil {{lang|ta|muzham}}, the Telugu {{transliteration|te|moora}} ({{lang|te|మూర}}), the [[Cambodian units of measurement|Khmer]] {{transliteration|km|hat}}, and the Tibetan {{transliteration|bo|khru}} ({{lang|bo|ཁྲུ}}).<ref>Rigpa Wiki, accessed January 2022, "[https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/khru]"</ref>

==Cubit arm in heraldry==
[[File:Complete Guide to Heraldry Fig268.png|thumb|upright|A heraldic '''cubit arm''', [[Dexter and sinister|''dexter'']], ''vested'' and ''erect'']]
A '''cubit arm''' in [[heraldry]] may be [[Dexter and sinister|''dexter'']] or [[Dexter and sinister|''sinister'']]. It may be  ''vested'' (with a sleeve) and may be shown in various positions, most commonly ''erect'', but also ''fesswise'' (horizontal), ''bendwise'' (diagonal) and is often shown grasping objects.<ref name=Heraldic>{{cite book|last=Allcock|first=Hubert|title=Heraldic design : its origins, ancient forms, and modern usage, with over 500 illustrations|year=2003|publisher=Dover Publications|location=Mineola, N.Y.|isbn=048642975X|page=24|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TEmZhTZ3XnwC&q=cubit+arm&pg=PA24}}</ref> It is most often used erect as a [[Crest (heraldry)|crest]], for example by the families of Poyntz of [[Iron Acton]], Rolle of [[Stevenstone]] and Turton.

==See also==
* [[History of measurement]]
* [[List of obsolete units of measurement]]
* [[System of measurement]]
* [[Unit of measurement]]

== References ==
<references>
<ref name=acta>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VqYXAQAAMAAJ ''Acta praehistorica et archaeologica''] Volumes 7–8. Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte; Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (Berlin, Germany); Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Berlin: Bruno Hessling Verlag, 1976. p. 49.</ref>

<ref name=arnold>Arnold Dieter (1991). [https://books.google.com/books?id=DU04vCP_TFAC ''Building in Egypt: pharaonic stone masonry'']. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-506350-9}}. p. 251.</ref>

<ref name=clagett>Marshall Clagett (1999). [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8c10QYoGa4UC ''Ancient Egyptian science, a Source Book. Volume Three: Ancient Egyptian Mathematics'']. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. {{ISBN|978-0-87169-232-0}}. p.</ref>

<ref name=lauer>Jean Philippe Lauer (1931). "Étude sur Quelques Monuments de la III<sup>e</sup> Dynastie (Pyramide à Degrés de Saqqarah)". ''Annales du Service des Antiquités de L'Egypte'' IFAO '''31''':60 p. 59</ref>

<ref name=lepsius>Richard Lepsius (1865). [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PRQGAAAAQAAJ ''Die altaegyptische Elle und ihre Eintheilung''] (in German). Berlin: Dümmler. p. 14–18.</ref>
</references>

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|title=The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture|first=Dieter|last=Arnold|year=2003|publisher=Taurus|isbn=1-86064-465-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofa00diet}}
*{{citation |last=Hirsch |first=Emil G. |author2=Immanuel Benzinger |author3=Joseph Jacobs |author4=Jacob Zallel Lauterbach |date=1906 |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Hirsch & al.|1906}} |contribution=Weights and Measures |contribution-url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14821-weights-and-measures |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/ |title=The Jewish Encyclopedia |volume=XII |pages=483 ff |editor=Cyrus Adler |editor2=Gotthard Deutsch |editor3=Louis Ginzberg |editor4=Richard Gottheil |editor5=Joseph Jacobs |editor6=Marcus Jastrow |editor7=Morris Jastrow, Jr. |editor8=Kaufmann Kohler |editor9=Frederick de Sola Mendes |editor10=Crawford H. Toy |editor11=Isidore Singer |display-editors=0 }}.
* Petrie, Sir Flinders (1881). ''Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh''.
* Stone, Mark H., "The Cubit: A History and Measurement Commentary", ''Journal of Anthropology'' {{doi|10.1155/2014/489757|doi-access=free}}, 2014

==External links==
{{Collier's poster|Cubit}}
* {{commons category-inline|Cubit arms}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|cubit}}

[[Category:Obsolete units of measurement]]
[[Category:Units of length]]
[[Category:Human-based units of measurement]]