[MR] History Blog: Early Medieval Balance Scale from Turkey

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today the History Blog reports on the discovery of a balance scale and a
set of weights found in Turkey.

The scale was discovered during an excavation at the ancient city of
Uzuncaburç, and is thought to be approximately 1,600 years old. A set of
five weights was also found, curiously shaped as Greek letters. The pans
needed to hold the weights on one side, and the product being weighed on
the other, are missing.

Pan balance scales like this date to at least 2,600 BCE from ancient Egypt.
They are frequently seen in art, especially tomb paintings showing the
deceased's heart being weighed by the gods against a feather (in the
paintings the heart always won, to the disgust of the crocodile-headed god
Ammit who devoured hearts weighed down by sins). Up into the 17th century
the only known scales were variations on the pan balance system, and such
scales are still used today.

The History Blog story is at https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73597 .

A short commentary on pan balance scales is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighing_scale .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.