Login
Login

dunam

{{Short description|Ottoman unit of land area}}

{{refimprove|date=February 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}

A dunam (Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: {{lang|ota|دونم}}; {{langx|tr|dönüm}}; {{langx|he|דונם}}; {{langx|yi|דונאם}}), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma,{{Cite web |title=Dunam |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/dunam |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}} was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount of land that could be ploughed by a team of oxen in a day. The legal definition was(when?) "forty standard paces in length and breadth",V.L. Ménage, Review of Speros Vryonis, Jr. The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century, Berkeley, 1971; in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) 36:3 (1973), pp. 659–661. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/613605 at JSTOR (subscription required)] but its actual area varied considerably from place to place, from a little more than {{convert|900|m2|sqft|lk=on|disp=sqbr|round=10}} in Ottoman Palestine to around {{convert|2,500|m2|sqft|lk=on|abbr=off|disp=sqbr|round=10}} in Iraq.Cowan, J. Milton; Arabic-English Dictionary, The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Spoken Languages Services, Inc.; 1994; p. 351)Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής (Dictionary of Modern Greek), Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1998. {{ISBN|960-231-085-5}}

The unit is still in use in many areas previously ruled by the Ottomans, although the new or metric dunam has been redefined(as of when, by who?) as exactly one decare ({{convert|1,000|m2|sqft|lk=on|abbr=off|disp=sqbr|round=10}}), which is 1/10 hectare (1/10 × {{convert|10,000|m2|sqft|lk=on|abbr=off|disp=sqbr|round=10}}), like the modern Greek royal stremma.

History

The name dönüm, from the Ottoman Turkish dönmek ({{lang|ota|دونمك}}, "to turn"), appears to be a calque of the Byzantine Greek stremma and had the same size. It was likely adopted by the Ottomans from the Byzantines in Mysia-Bithynia.Ménage, op.cit.

The Dictionary of Modern Greek defines the old Ottoman stremma as approximately {{convert|1,270|m2}},Λεξικό, 1998 but Costas Lapavitsas used the value of {{convert|1,600|m2}} for the region of Naoussa in the early 20th century.{{cite web |url=http://www.hdoisto.gr/Keimena/Lapavitsas4112005.pdf |title=Social and Economic Underpinning of Industrial Development: Evidence from Ottoman Macedonia |author-link1=Costas Lapavitsas |first1=Costas |last1=Lapavitsas |work=Ηλεκτρονικό Δελτίο Οικονομικής Ιστορίας |access-date=2012-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928095353/http://www.hdoisto.gr/Keimena/Lapavitsas4112005.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2007}}

Definition

=Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro =

In Bosnia and Herzegovina and also Serbia, the unit is called dulum (дулум) or dunum (дунум). In Bosnia and Herzegovina dunum (or dulum) equals {{convert|1,000|m2|0}}. In the region of Leskovac, south Serbia, One dulum is equal to {{convert|1,600|m2|0}}. In Albania it is called dynym or dylym. It is equal to {{convert|1,000|m2|0}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.rgz.gov.rs/template1.asp?PageName=merne_jedinice&MenuID=0000162&LanguageID=1 |script-title=sr:Мерне јединице у КЗ и КН |publisher=Republic Geodetic Authority of the Republic of Serbia |access-date=6 September 2010 |language=sr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304030340/http://www.rgz.gov.rs/template1.asp?PageName=merne_jedinice&MenuID=0000162&LanguageID=1 |archive-date=4 March 2012}}

=Bulgaria=

In Bulgaria, the decare (декар) is used, which is an SI unit, literally meaning 10 ares.

=Cyprus=

In Cyprus, a donum is {{val|1337.803776|u=m2}} or 14400 square feet.Department of Lands and Surveys web site http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/dls{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (retrieved April 2014) In the Republic of Cyprus older Greek-Cypriots also still refer to the donum using the local Greek Cypriot dialect word σκάλες [skales], rather than the mainland Greek word stremma (equivalent to a decare). However, since 1986 officially Cyprus uses the square metre and the hectare.

A donum consists of 4 evleks, each of which consists of {{val|334.450944|u=m2}} or 3.600 square feet.

=Greece=

{{main|stremma}}

In Greece, the old dönüm is called a "Turkish stremma", while today, a stremma or "royal stremma" is exactly one decare, like the metric dönüm.

=Iraq=

In Iraq, the dunam is {{convert|2500|m2|ha}}.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHLR2kg60G0C&q=how+to+find+the+length+and+the+width+of+donum&pg=PA160 |title = A Glimpse of Iraq|isbn = 978-1-4116-9518-4|last1 = Al-Shawi|first1 = Ibrahim|year = 2006| publisher=Lulu.com }}

=Israel, Palestine and Turkey=

In Israel, Palestine and Turkey, the dunam is {{convert|1000|m2|ft2|0}}, which is 1 decare. From the Ottoman period and through the early years of the British Mandate for Palestine, the size of a dunam was {{convert|919.3|m2|sqft|0}}, but in 1928, the metric dunam of {{convert|1000|m2|ha}} was adopted, and this is still used today in Israel.{{cite book|last1= El-Eini |first1= Roza I.M. |title= Mandated landscape: British imperial rule in Palestine, 1929–1948 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ekQOAAAAQAAJ |access-date= 2009-05-05 |year= 2006 |publisher= Routledge |isbn= 978-0-7146-5426-3 |page= xxiii |chapter= Currency and Measures |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ekQOAAAAQAAJ&q=El-Eini+%22Mandated+Landscape%22 }}{{cite web | author = Israel Central Bureau of Statistics | url = http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton62/e_symbols.pdf | title = explanatory notes | access-date = 2 August 2013| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131217052043/https://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton62/e_symbols.pdf| archive-date=17 December 2013}}

= United Arab Emirates =

The Dubai Statistics Center and [https://www.scad.gov.abudhabi/en/pages/default.aspx Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi] use the metric dunam (spelt as donum) for data relating to agricultural land use. One donum equals {{convert|1,000|m2|0}}.

Variations

Other countries using a dunam of some size include Libya and Syria.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}

Conversions

A metric dunam is equal to:{{fact|date=February 2018}}

  • 1,000 square metres (exactly){{Cite web|url=https://www.dsc.gov.ae/Publication/SYB%202009%20Chapter%208.pdf|title=Chapter 8: Agriculture Statistical Yearbook|date=2009|website=Dubai Statistics Center|page=184|access-date=17 April 2019}}
  • 10 ares (exactly)
  • 1 decare (exactly)
  • 0.1 hectares (exactly)
  • 0.001 square kilometres (exactly)
  • 0.247105381 acres (approx)
  • 1,195.99005 square yards (approx)
  • 10,763.9104 square feet (approx)

Comparable measures

{{see also|Acre}}

The Byzantine Greek stremma was the probable source of the Turkish unit. The zeugarion (Turkish çift) was a similar unit derived from the area plowed by a team of oxen in a day. The English acre was originally similar to both units in principle, although it developed separately.{{fact|date=February 2018}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.hagertygrain.com/weights_and_me.htm Foreign Weights and Measures Formerly in Common Use]
  • [http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictD.html Dictionary of units]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20050422231807/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Tvillage/Pages/Page_52.html Variable donums in Turkey]
  • [http://www.sizes.com/units/doumlnuumlm.htm Summary based on UN handbook]

Category:Units of area

Category:Turkish words and phrases

Category:Metricated units