Window into the Bible
Weights and Measures
Honest scales and balances belong to the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making. (Proverbs 16:11)
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Duck Weights
No other info
Photographed at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. (Leviticus 19:36)
Iron Steelyard
Date: 4th century AD.
Place: Dorn farm, Gloucestershire, England.
Photographed at the British Museum, London, England.
The LORD detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him. (Proverbs 11:1)
Bronze Balance
Date: Roman Imperial period
Place: London, England.
Photographed at the British Museum, London, England.
Bronze Pair of Scales
Date: Roman Imperial period
Place: Unknown
Photographed at the British Museum, London, England.
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor? (Isaiah 40:12-15)
Bronze Steelyard with Two Hooks and a Weight
Date: 1st century AD
Place: Unknown
Photographed at the British Museum, London, England.
Scales
Date: pre 79 AD.
Place: Pompeii
Photographed at the Naples National Archeological Museum, Naples, Italy.
When Jeremiah bought a piece of land, he weighed the silver on scales:
“I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales.” (Jeremiah 32:9-10)
Balance
Date: 3-4th century AD.
Place: Picardy, France
Photographed at the Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany.
Weights
Date: 3-4th century AD.
Place: Picardy, France
Photographed at the Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany.
With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared? Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save them from their troubles. (Isaiah 46:5-7)
Balance with Rider in the Form of a Negro Slave
Date: 2nd century AD.
Place: Unknown (by Museum)
Photographed at the Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany.
Abacus
Date: Roman imperial period
Place: Italy
Photographed at the National Museum of Rome, Rome, Italy.