tainer of my ruler?" The question seems to he over the 

 issue of a standard-sized container. The Egyptians were 

 much concerned with this issue, for non-standard con- 

 tainers could be used to cheat. A "half-/ielcat measure of 

 my ruler" might imply a container of a standard mea- 

 sure guaranteed by the government. In another set of 

 documents from the Xlth Dynasty farmer Heka-nakht, 

 we learn that when Heka-nakht wished to have some 

 debts collected from people in his local town, he 

 cautioned his own people to be sure to take along his 

 own hide-covered measuring container. Clearly, he 

 didn't trust the containers of those who were in debt to 

 him! 



The next scene shows a customer without a shop- 

 ping sack offering a vase, presumably with its contents, 

 to a merchant selling vegetables (below, right). The 

 merchant remarks: "Give your price, and I will give 

 fine vegetables." In the basket, green onions, romaine 



lettuce, and garlic are displayed. Again, this transac- 

 tion may be a simple barter style with commodities 

 whose values were well known. 



The final marketing scene (p. 20) is perhaps the 

 most interesting. It shows a cloth merchant's shop. A 

 roll of linen cloth is unfurled; one of the shopkeepers 

 stands holding the cloth up with his left hand while he 

 extends his right arm, fingertip to elbow, along the 

 cloth. The arm — fingertips to elbow — literally is the 

 cubit, so the cloth is being measured. The text above 

 him reads: "A cubit of cloth for six shat." His assistant 

 stands holding up the cloth with both hands; he re- 

 marks: "I say, this is truly of divine (quality) !" The cus- 

 tomer, a portly, balding man, seated on a cushioned 

 seat concurs: "great quality," as he feels the cloth. The 

 scene is of very great interest as it shows measurement 



in length, by the cubit. The standard cubit in Egypt was 

 20.6 inches (523 millimeters), and was subdivided into 

 seven palms and 28 digits. The cloth measurement 

 hardly varies from the modern practice of measuring 

 cloth by the yard. The reference to six shat likewise is of 

 great interest. The shat unit, 12 shat to the deben, has 

 already been mentioned, but it should be noted that 

 this unit was used only in silver and gold weighing, not 

 with copper. So, the cloth is selling most probably for 

 six shat of silver per cubit. In a New Kingdom Period 

 text, a skirt of fine linen and three loincloths of fine 

 linen were valued at five kite of silver respectively. As 

 10 kite equalled one deben, the five kite are equal to six 

 shat in earlier terms. As a skirt would require about two 

 cubits of cloth, the Old Kingdom cloth is more expen- 

 sive (assuming about the same value for silver). Still, in 

 light of the remarks made by the shopkeeper and cus- 



19 



