Mina (unit)

From earliest Sumerian times, a mina was a unit of weight. At first, talents and shekels had not yet been introduced. By the time of Ur-Nammu (shortly before 2000 BCE), the mina had a value of {{frac|60}} talent as well as 60 shekels. The weight of this mina is calculated at {{convert|1.25|lb|kg}}, or 570 grams of silver (18 troy ounces).Edwards, Tom. {{Cite web |url=http://www.spiritrestoration.org/Church/Research%20History%20and%20Great%20Links/Biblical%20Weights%20Measure%20and%20Monetary%20System.htm |title=Bible Weights, Measures, and Monetary Values |work=SpiritRestoration.org |access-date=28 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121034333/http://www.spiritrestoration.org/Church/Research%20History%20and%20Great%20Links/Biblical%20Weights%20Measure%20and%20Monetary%20System.htm |archive-date=21 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}. Calculation of weight by number of shekels.{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=726&letter=M#2473 |title=Money }}

File:Belshazzar’s feast, by Rembrandt.jpg, Rembrandt, 1635 (National Gallery, London). The message mene, mene, tekel, upharsin is written in vertical lines starting at the top right corner.]]

The word mina comes from the ancient Semitic root {{lang|sem-Latn|m-n-w}}/{{lang|sem-Latn|m-n-y}} 'to count',{{Citation |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=mina |title=mina |work=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language }} Akkadian {{lang|akk-Latn|manû}},{{citation |url=http://www.assyrianlanguages.org/akkadian/dosearch.php?searchkey=man%C3%BB+%284%29&language=rawakkadian |title=manû |work=Akkadian Dictionary |publisher=Association Assyrophile de France }} {{langx|he|מָנָה}} ({{lang|he-Latn|mana}}), {{langx|arc-Hebr|מָנָה}}/{{lang|arc-Hebr|מְנָא}} ({{lang|arc-Latn|mana}}/{{lang|arc-Latn|mena}}),{{citation |url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Jastrow%2C_%D7%9E%D6%B0%D7%A0%D6%B5%D7%99?lang=he&p2=Jastrow%2C_%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%99.1&lang2=he |script-title=he:מְנֵי |trans-title=Mənei |last=Jastrow |first=Marcus |title=Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature |publisher=London, W.C.: Luzac & Co.; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons |year=1903 }} {{langx|syc|ܡܢܳܐ}} ({{lang|syc-Latn|mena}}),{{citation |url=https://www.assyrianlanguages.org/sureth/dosearch.php?searchkey=7971&language=id |script-title=syc:ܡܢܵܐ |trans-title='mna |work=Sureth dictionary |publisher=Association Assyrophile de France |title=Search Entry }} {{langx|uga|𐎎𐎐|mn}}. It is mentioned in the Bible, where Solomon is reported to have made 300 shields, each with 3 "mina" of gold ({{langx|he|‏מָנֶה|mane|links=no}}),[https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a10.htm 1 Kings 10:17]. or later after the Edict of Cyrus II of Persia the people are reported to have donated 5000 minas of silver for the reconstruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.[https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt35a02.htm Ezra 2:69] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004144340/http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt35a02.htm |date=2018-10-04 }}.

In the Code of Hammurabi which is considered one of the first examples of written law, the mina is one of the most used terms denoting the weight of gold to be paid for crimes or to resolve civil conflicts.[http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/ham/ham07.htm] Sacred Texts

In the Biblical story of Belshazzar's feast, the words mene, mene, tekel, upharsin appear on the wall (Daniel 5:25), which according to one interpretation can mean "mina, mina, shekel, and half-pieces", although Daniel interprets the words differently for King Belshazzar.

Writings from Ugarit give the value of a mina as equivalent to fifty shekels.Tenney, Merril ed., The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol. 5, "Weights and Measures," Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976. The prophet Ezekiel refers to a mina (maneh in the King James Version) also as 60 shekels, in the Book of Ezekiel 45:12. Jesus of Nazareth tells the "parable of the minas" in Luke 19:11–27, also told as the "parable of the talents" in Matthew 25:14–30. In later Jewish usage, the {{lang|he-Latn|maneh}} is equal in weight to 100 {{lang|la|denarii}}.{{cite book |last=Maimonides |author-link=Maimonides |title=Sefer Mishneh Torah - HaYad Ha-Chazakah (Maimonides' Code of Jewish Law) |publisher=Pe'er HaTorah |volume=4 (Seder Avodah)|date=1974|location=Jerusalem |language=he}}, s.v. Hil. Kelei HaMikdash 2:3

From the Akkadian period, 2 mina was equal to 1 {{lang|akk-Latn|sila}} of water (cf. clepsydra, water clock).

In ancient Greece, the mina was known as the {{lang|grc|μνᾶ}} ({{grc-transl|μνᾶ}}). It originally equalled 70 drachmae but later, at the time of the statesman Solon (c. 594 BC), was increased to 100 drachmae.Aristotle (unknown date). Constitution of the Athenians, 10.2. The Greek word {{lang|grc-Latn|mna}} ({{lang|grc|μνᾶ}}) was borrowed from Semitic.{{Cite book |last=Jastrow |first=Marcus |url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Jastrow%2C_%D7%9E%D6%B8%D7%A0%D6%B6%D7%94?lang=he |title=Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature |publisher=London, W.C.: Luzac & Co.; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons |year=1903 }}{{Cite book |author1=Henry George Liddell |author2=Robert Scott |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=mna= |title=A Greek–English Lexicon |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1940 }} Different city states used minae of different weights. The Aeginetan mina weighed {{cvt|623.7|g|oz}}.{{harvp|Oleson|1998|p=764}} The Attic mina weighed {{cvt|436.6|g|oz}}.{{harvp|Oleson|1998|p=764}} In Solon's day, according to Plutarch, the price of a sheep was one drachma or a medimnos (about 40 kg) of wheat.Plutarch, Solon 23. Thus a mina was worth 100 sheep.

The word {{lang|la|mina}} also occurs in Latin literature, but mainly in plays of Plautus and Terence adapted from Greek originals. In Terence's play Heauton Timorumenos, adapted from a play of the same name by the Greek playwright Menander, a certain sum of money is referred to in one place as "ten minae" (line 724) and in another as "1000 drachmas of silver" (line 601).A. J. Brothers (1988), Terence: The Self-Tormentor, note on line 601. Usually the word {{lang|la|mina}} referred to a mina of silver, but Plautus also twice mentions a mina of gold.Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 1420, Truculentus 893. In the 4th century BC, gold was worth about 10 times the same weight of silver.Hammond, Mason et al. (1963) Plautus: Miles Gloriosus on line 1061. In Plautus, 20 minae is mentioned as the price of buying a slave.Plautus, Pseudolus 53; Captivi 380. It was also the price of hiring a courtesan for a year.Plautus, Asinaria 230. 40 minae is given as the price of a house.Plautus, Trinummus 403.

In classical Latin the approximate equivalent of a mina was the {{lang|la|libra}} (the word also meant "balance" or "weighing scales").Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary, s.v. [https://logeion.uchicago.edu/libra libra]. With a weight of only {{cvt|328.9|g|oz}}, however, the Roman {{lang|la|libra}} was lighter than either a Greek mina or a modern pound of 16 ounces. It was divided into 12 Roman ounces. Sometimes the word {{lang|la|libra}} was used together with the word {{lang|la|pondo}} "in weight", e.g. {{lang|la|libram pondo}} "a pound in weight" (Livy, 3.29); but often {{lang|la|pondo}} was used alone; e.g. {{lang|la|auri quinque pondo}} "five (pounds) in weight of gold" (Cicero, pro Cluentio 179). Hence the word {{lang|la|pondo}} by itself came to mean "pound(s)".Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary, s.v. [https://logeion.uchicago.edu/pondo pondo]. From Latin {{lang|la|pondo}} comes the English word "pound", and from {{lang|la|libra}} come the abbreviations "lb" (for weight) and the pound sign "£" (for money).

Image:Mina Athens.PNG|Mina of Athens.

Image:Mina Chios.PNG|Mina of Chios.

Image:Mina Antiochus IV.PNG|Mina of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Image:Mina Antiochus of Syria.PNG|Mina of Antioch.

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• {{cite book|last=Oleson|first=John Peter|date=2008|title=The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199734856}}

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