Digit (unit)
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of Turin, showing digit, palm, hand and fist lengths The digit or finger is an ancient and obsolete non-SI unit of measurement of length. It was originally based on the breadth of a human finger. It was a fundamental unit of length in the Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hebrew, Ancient Greek and Roman systems of measurement. In astronomy a digit is one twelfth of the diameter of the sun or the moon.
of Turin, showing digit, palm, hand and fist lengths]] The digit or finger is an ancient and obsolete non-SI unit of measurement of length. It was originally based on the breadth of a human finger. It was a fundamental unit of length in the Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hebrew, Ancient Greek and Roman systems of measurement. In astronomy a digit is one twelfth of the diameter of the sun or the moon. ==History== ===Ancient Egypt=== The digit, also called a finger or fingerbreadth, is a unit of measurement originally based on the breadth of a human finger. In Ancient Egypt it was the basic unit of subdivision of the cubit. On surviving Ancient Egyptian cubit-rods, the royal cubit is divided into seven palms of four digits or fingers each. The royal cubit measured approximately 525 mm, so the length of the ancient Egyptian digit was about 19 mm. ==See also== Finger (unit) Finger tip unit Cubit Anthropic units
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