24

Studies of the metrology of the Ancient Near East usually focus on reconstructing relative values between units in each measurement system and identifying absolute values by converting ancient standards into modern ones. However, recent research aims to reinterpret these ancient units in the context of their use as shaped by administrative and political standardization processes, trading systems and grain management practices in palaces and temples. This article presents an example of this new work on measurement units, based on a case study of the sila3, a unit of capacity widely used in Mesopotamia for around 3000 years. This requires both a reflexive approach to the methodologies used until now and an emic approach to the Mesopotamian ways of thinking, representing and using metrology.