Material Weights

The ancient Mesopotamian groups also used different shapes and materials for weighting items. The ancient Babylonians used these weights to value either more or less than their gold and silver currency: the Shekel and the Mina. These weights shown to the side were used to weigh metals for valuing.

For buying and trading goods, the Mesopotamians used a unique system: bartering. One party could possess one or multiple items and travel to another party and that also possesses items and barter (trade) between one another. After an agreement between the parties was made, a record was made to track the transactions. 

The different Mesopotamian tribes and groups such as the Babylonians and the Sumerians both had their own forms of measurement. The Babylonian units encompass length, area, volume, and weight. The smallest unit of length is the she, which is about 1/360 of a meter. The basic unit for area is the sar, which is about 36 sq. meters. 1 unit of volume in Babylonia equates to around 1 area unit x 1 Kush ( another type of measurement during this time). Finally, the basic unit for volume is the mana, which is about 1/2 of a kilogram.