Deben (unit) facts for kids
Imagine money, but instead of coins, ancient Egyptians used a special weight called a deben! It was a unit of weight they used a long, long time ago in Ancient Egypt. The deben helped people measure the value of goods and services. It was like a standard way to compare how much things were worth.
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The Deben's Early Days
The very first signs of the deben come from the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt. This was a time when Egypt was just starting to become a united country.
Archaeologists found one of the oldest deben weights at a place called Buto in the Nile Delta. It was in an old building from the Second Dynasty. This special weighing stone had writing on it. It said "3 deben" and weighed about 29 grams. This was likely one of the first copper deben weights ever found! Experts believe that both copper and gold deben were used even in these very early times.
Deben in the Old and Middle Kingdoms
In the Old Kingdom, which was a very important time in ancient Egypt, people continued to use the deben. Paintings in old tombs, like the one for an official named Hesy-Ra from the Third Dynasty, show Egyptians using balance scales and weights. These weights were probably deben.
Some stone weights from the Old Kingdom have been found that weigh about 13.6 grams. This amount is thought to be the value of a gold deben. For example, a weighing stone belonging to King Userkaf was this weight.
During the Middle Kingdom, there were two main types of deben:
- Gold deben: This one weighed about 13.6 grams.
- Copper deben: This one was heavier, weighing about 27 grams. It was almost twice as heavy as the gold deben!
Archaeologists have found these different types of weights at places like Lisht.
Changes in the New Kingdom
During the Second Intermediate Period, new ways of weighing things started to appear in Egypt. These new systems came from other places, like Syria and Mesopotamia.
By the time of the New Kingdom, the deben had changed. One deben was now much heavier, weighing about 90 to 95 grams. This new deben was also divided into smaller parts:
- Kidet: One deben was equal to ten kidet. Each kidet weighed about 9 to 9.5 grams.
- Pieces: Sometimes, a deben was also divided into twelve "pieces." Each "piece" weighed about 7.6 grams.
The deben was often used to show the value of different items. People would compare how much something was worth to a certain weight of metal, usually silver or copper. So, if you wanted to buy something, its price would be given in "deben of silver" or "deben of copper." The weight of the metal was the same as the item's value.
Deben as a Way to Trade
People think that pieces of metal, weighing a deben, might have been carried around in boxes. These pieces could have been used like money at markets. However, archaeologists haven't found many standard pieces of metal that were exactly one deben.
Even so, we know for sure that debens were used to compare values. For example, a famous stone called the Juridical Stela tells a story from the time of King Nebiryraw I. It talks about a debt of 60 gold deben. This debt was actually paid with a mix of gold, copper, grain, and clothes! The value of this debt was so high, it was worth the job of being the governor of Elkab.
Another example from the 19th Dynasty shows how a slave girl was valued at four deben and one kidet of silver. She was paid for with many different items, including bronze pots, copper, linen clothes, a blanket, and even a pot of honey! This shows how the deben helped people trade different goods.
Deben in Modern Times
The deben even appears in the modern world! It was used as the currency (money) in the computer game Pharaoh. In the game, the deben was shown as gold.
See also
- Ancient Egyptian units of measurement
- Egyptian units of measurement
