Compare makuk
In the Arabic-speaking Middle East, especially Iraq, 7ᵗʰ century, a unit of mass, varying by locality. In Baghdad and al-Kūfah, about 5 5/8 kilograms. In al-Baṣrah and Wāsiṭ, about 6 kilograms.
1
Then we discovered three baskets; one contained a makkūk³² of emeralds, but of a kind that I could imagine neither al-Mutawakkil nor indeed anyone else possessing. Another smaller basket contained half a makkūk of large beads which, by God, I had never dreamed al-Mutawakkil or anyone else could possess.
32. Measures like this and kaylajah, below, were subject to regional variation. A makkūk in Baghdad and al-Kufah weighed 5.625 kg, while in al-Baṣrah and Wāsiṭ it weighed 6 kg. In Iraq a kaylajah was one-third of a makkūk. See W. Hinz, Islamische Masse und Gewichte, 40, 44.
David Waines, trans. and annotator.
The History of al-Ṭabarī, vol. 36, The Revolt of the Zanj.
Bibliotheca Persica.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, circa 1992.
Page 9.
Tabari wrote in the 9ᵗʰ and early 10ᵗʰ centuries ce.
2
When the Muslims set out to fight the people of al-Ubullah, my husband and son went with them. They took two dirhams and a makkūk⁶¹¹ of raisins each.
611. The makkūk is a measure of weight. According to Ibn Manẓūr (Lisān al-Arab, s.v. m-k-k), it was best known among the people of Iraq. The weight of the makkūk was not fixed; it changed according to the usage agreed upon in each area (yakhtalifu miqdāruhu bi-’khtilāfi iṣṭilāh al-nas ‘alayhi fī al-bilād). See Hinz, Masse, 44; EI², s.v. “Makāyīl” (E. Ashtor), at VI, 118b, 119b.
Yohanan Friedmann, trans. and annotator.
The History of al-Ṭabarī, vol.
12, The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine.
Bibliotheca Persica.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, circa 1992.
Page 171.
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