A unit of distance in the Middle East. The farsakh comes from an ancient Persian unit, the parasang, in principle the distance a horse would walk in an hour, about 3 miles = 12,000 cubits.
In mid 19th century, the Persian farsakh was approximately 6.23 kilometers; the Arab farsakh was shorter, approximately 5.76 kilometers.
| Location | Period | Equivalents | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabia | 4.83 kilometers (about 3.00 miles) | |||
| Egypt | 20th c | 2.25 kilometers, = 3000 dhira mamari | 2 | |
| Ethiopia | 5.07 kilometers (3.15 miles) | |||
Iran
|
metric farsang | 20th c | = 10 kilometers (approximately 6.21371 miles). | 1 |
| farsakh-song Sometimes called a farsang | 20th c | 6.24 kilometers = 6,000 guz (about 3.88 miles) The farsakh-song is sometimes valued at 6.72 kilometers (approximately 4.18 miles). | 1 | |
Muscat and Oman  |
20th c | approximately 3 miles (approximately 4.8 kilometers) | 1 | |
| Tunisia | Sfax | 19th- | about 3.75 kilometers | 3 |
| Sahel | 60 kilometers | |||
1. United Nations, 1966.
2. Saadeddine Bencheneb.
Bulletin des Études des arabes, Sept-Oct 1952,
page 104.
3. Marcel Legendre.
Survivance des Mesures Traditionnelles en Tunisie.
Publications de L’Institut des Hautes Études de Tunis.
Memoires du Centre D’Études de Science Humaines, volume 4.
Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1958.
Pages .
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