Mathematics in Ethiopia

Since ancient times, traditional mathematics in Ethiopia have related to various aspects of astrology, the calendar, and measurements of physical properties such as length, weight, and distance. Ethiopians used alternate units of measurement which differ from fundamental law; traditionally, scaling and counting values have been described using draft animals such as goats, mules, sheep, or camels, and in modern times, steelyards.

Measurements

Weight

Since measurements of weight often require accurate units or standardized scales, they were used less frequently than measurements of capacity (volume) in the past in Ethiopia. Still, there are three basic ways in which weight has been traditionally determined.

First, an object's lightness or heaviness could be simply assessed by feel (holding in one's hand) or sight (visual approximation). Second, a basic estimation of weight (such as of a load carried by a porter or draft animal) might be compared to a fundamentally different but familiar unit of another measure, such as the length of a human arm or the volume held in a hand. Third, more accurate comparisons of relative weights were done using scales or other apparatus.

Hand measurements were used in many parts of the country to purchase market goods, such as butter. The concepts of load and capacity were often used in lieu of weight when measuring cheap, bulk commodities, such as grain. More sophisticated and accurate techniques were only used for valuable goods such as medicine, gold, and silver.