Traditional units of measurement in Egypt
Middle East & North Africa · 11 documented units · reviewed 2026-07-31
Quick answer
Egyptian land is registered in feddan (4,200.83 m²) and qirat (1/24 feddan); grain trades by the ardeb, a volume measure of about 198 litres.
How measurement works in Egypt
The feddan is the statutory agricultural area unit in Egypt and remains in official crop statistics, land registration and irrigation allocation, subdivided into 24 qirat and each qirat into 24 sahm.
The ardeb is a capacity unit, so its mass equivalent depends on the grain: wheat, maize and beans each have their own conventional kilogram-per-ardeb factor used by the Ministry of Supply.
Pharaonic-era units (royal cubit, deben, kite) belong to the archaeological literature rather than modern trade, and their reconstructed values carry genuine uncertainty.
area units of Egypt
| Unit | Value in SI | Typical use | Convert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feddan | 1 Feddan = 4,200.833 square metre | agriculture | Feddan → square metresIn-depth guide |
| Qirat (area) | 1 Qirat (area) = 175.035 square metre | agriculture | Qirat (area) → square metres |
| Feddan (Egyptian) | 1 Feddan (Egyptian) = 4,200 square metre | agriculture | Feddan (Egyptian) → square metres |
mass units of Egypt
| Unit | Value in SI | Typical use | Convert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dirham (weight) | 1 Dirham (weight) = 0.003125 kilogram | jewellery, trade | Dirham (weight) → kilogramsIn-depth guide |
| Qirat/Carat | 1 Qirat/Carat = 0.000195 kilogram | jewellery | Qirat/Carat → kilogramsIn-depth guide |
| Habba | 1 Habba = 0.00006 kilogram | jewellery | Habba → kilograms |
| Waqia (Egypt) | 1 Waqia (Egypt) = 0.037 kilogram | trade | Waqia (Egypt) → kilograms |
| Deben (Egyptian) | 1 Deben (Egyptian) = 0.091 kilogram | precious-metals, trade | Deben (Egyptian) → kilograms |
| Kite (Egyptian) | 1 Kite (Egyptian) = 0.0091 kilogram | precious-metals | Kite (Egyptian) → kilograms |
length units of Egypt
| Unit | Value in SI | Typical use | Convert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cubit (Egyptian Royal) | 1 Cubit (Egyptian Royal) = 0.524 metre | general | Cubit (Egyptian Royal) → metres |
volume units of Egypt
| Unit | Value in SI | Typical use | Convert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ardeb | 1 Ardeb = 198 litre | trade, agriculture | Ardeb → litresIn-depth guide |
Units that vary within Egypt
- Waqia (Egypt) — reported range: 37–214 g
- Cubit (Egyptian Royal) — value depends on locality
Before you convert
- Egyptian qirat as area (175 m²) is unrelated to the carat used for gemstone mass.
- Ardeb-to-kilogram factors are commodity-specific; a single number is always wrong for at least one crop.
Sources
- Egyptian Survey Authority — cadastral unit definitions
- CAPMAS agricultural statistics conversion tables
See our methodology and data provenance pages, or review published corrections.