Treatise for the Knowledge of the Quantities of Known Measures in the Written and Oral Torah

Chapter 1

R. Joseph ha-Levi said: Kesef tsori [“Tyrian silver piece”]—this is the dinar spoken of in the Talmud, and it is also the zuz; their measure is equivalent. They each weigh the same as the marābita [Almoravid] shekel. It is approximately the weight of one and a half silver pieces. And the weight of this dinar is [equal to] ninety-six barley grains. This is the “dinar of Shasdanag” [possibly equivalent to 1 1/2 dirham], as we shall explain at the end of the chapter. And ‘ablaq [another Arabic coin]: this is a [type of] dinar that is slightly smaller than [or similar to] dinars called qarusiyāt; their weight is ninety-two barley grains. Therefore, he only approximated. [ . . . ]

[And] R. Se‘adya [Ga’on] said: A gerah [is identical to a] da’anaq. A dinar is not equivalent to a da’anaq. A dirham is a sixth. Our sages, of blessed memory, called a [value of] one sixth a danka. They also spoke of a terisit [tressis], which means “one quarter.” They also said that “six silver ma‘ah” are equal to a dinar, and in one ma‘ah are two pundiyon, and in one pundiyon are two ‘issarim, and in one ‘issar are two mesimasim, and in one mesimas are two qantariqin, and in one qantariq are two perutot. Thus, one perutah equals one-eighth of an Italian ‘issar.

R. Isaac, in his treatise on the laws of marriage, chapter one, says that the value of a perutah is equal to 1/182 of a Shashdanagian zuz, which is one dinar of Arab gold. Thus, a perutah according to this valuation is equal to half a grain, because a gold dinar is equal to nineteen grains. Therefore, the ‘issar is equal to four grains; the pundiyon is equal to eight grains; and the ma‘ah is equal to sixteen grains.