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bâa [Arabic, ابﻉ ]

A widespread Arabic unit of length that belongs to the fathom family of units. Also romanized as ba'

In Oman , 20ᵗʰ century , a unit of length equal to the span of outstretched arms.¹

Similiarly, in Arabia, it was described in 1923 as “hand to hand, both arms extended”² and in 1935 as “finger tips to fingertips with arms extended sideways”³.

In Egypt it was specified as 4 dhira mamari = 3 meters.⁴ Another estimate:

In Tunisia, 1895, as 1.92 meters.

1. United Nations, 1966.

2. Consul Bullard to the Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, October 31, 1923.
Foreign Office Annual Reports from Arabia, 1930-1960. Vol. 1, 1930-1934.
Archive Editions, 1993.
Page 58.

3. Field Notes on Sa'udi Arabia, 1935.
[British] Air Ministry, August 1936.
British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/384.
[accessed 15 July 2020 in Qatar Digital Library https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000831.0x0001d5]

4. Saadeddine Bencheneb.
Bulletin des Études des arabes, Sept-Oct 1952, page 104.

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Last revised: 3 February 2011.