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Standards Unit of Measurement; Standardization--Weight, Time, Direction, Length and Distance, ,Measurements
Topic Started: Oct 30 2010, 06:00 PM (151 Views)
Julalina

Standardization
"The Weight and the Stone, incidentally, are standardized throughout the Gorean cities by Merchant Law, the only common body of law existing among the cities. The official "Stone," actually a solid metal cylinder, is kept, by the way, near the Sardar. Four times a year, on a given day in each of the four great fairs held annually near the Sardar, it is brought forth with scales, that merchants from whatever city my test their own standard "Stone" against it. The "Stone" of Port Kar, tested against the official "Stone" at the Sardar, reposed in a special fortified building... As in the case of the official "Stone," so, too, at the Sardar in a metal rod, which determines that Merchant Foot, or Gorean foot, as I have called it. Port Kar’s Merchant Foot, like her "Stone," is kept in the arsenal" (Raiders of Gor, ch 15)
Currency
"One of the central coins on Gor is the golden tarn sdisk of Ar, against which many cities standardize their own gold piece. Other generally respected coins tend to be the silver tarsk of Tharna, the golden tarn disk of Ko-ro-ba, and the golden tarn of Port Kar, the latter particularly on the western Vosk, in the Tamber Gulf region, and a few hundred pasangs north and south of the Vosk's delta." (Rogue of Gor, page 155)
"For example, a 'double tarn' is twice the weight of a 'tarn'. It seems there are usually eight tarsk bits in a copper tarsk, and that these are the result of cutting a circular coin in half, and then the halves in half, and then each of these halves in half. An analogy would be cutting the round, flat Gorean loaves of Sa-Tarna bread into eight pieces. There are approximately something like one hundred copper tarsks in a silver tarsk in many cities. Similarly, something like ten silver tarsks would apparently be equivalent, depending on weights, etc., to one gold piece, say, a single 'tarn'. Accordingly on this approach, the equivalencies, very approximately and probably only for certain cities, would be eight tarsk bits to the copper tarsk, one hundred copper tarsks to a silver tarsk, and ten silver tarsks to a gold piece, a single tarn. On this approach, there would be, literally, 8,000 tarsk bits in a single gold piece." (Magicians of Gor, page 469 footnotes)

Tarsk bit
a copper coin worth from 1/10 to 1/4 of a copper tarsk, depending on the city which mints the coin; "copper tarsks, each of which valued, commonly, at some ten to twenty tarsk bits" (Rogue of Gor, page 155)
Copper tarsk
copper coin that is the whole coin of least value;
Copper tarn disk
smallest unit of tarn currency
Silver tarsk
a coin worth 100 copper tarsks or 40 copper tarn disks. "The tarsk is a silver coin, worth forty copper tarn disks." (Assassin of Gor, page 160) "A silver tarsk is, to most Goreans, a coin of considerable value. In most exchanges it is valued at a hundred copper tarsks, each of which valued, commonly, at some ten to twenty tarsk bits. Ten silver tarsks, usually, is regarded as the equivalent of one gold piece, of one of the high cities. To be sure, there is little standardization in these matters, for much depends on the actual weights of the coins and the quantities of precious metals, certified by the municipal stamps, contained in the coins." (Rogue of Gor, page 155)
Silver tarn disk
worth approx. 10 silver tarsks.
Gold tarn disk
high measure of value on Gor (also made in double-weight), worth about 10 silver tarsks (Rogue of Gor, page 155)



1 Gold coin = 10 Silver Tarsks
1 Silver Tarsk = 40 copper tarns = 100 copper tarsks
1 copper tarsk = 10-20 tarsk bits

"Actually, fifty silver tarn disks was an extremely high price, and indicated the girl was probably of high caste as well as extremely beautiful. An ordinary girl, of low caste, comely but untrained, might, depending on the market, sell for as little as five or as many as thirty tarn disks." (Outlaw of Gor, page 193)

"A golden tarn disk was a small fortune. It would buy one of the great birds themselves, or as many as five slave girls." (Tarnsman of Gor, page 191)
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Time
First a general note about "clockwise" direction. In Nomads of Gor within the footnotes on page 3, it is stated "clockwise as Earth clocks move (Gorean clock hands move in the opposite direction)"
ihn - Gorean second (Outlaw of Gor, page 26); roughly equivalent to 1.35 of our seconds
ehn - Gorean minute of 80 ihn (Outlaw of Gor, page 26); most likely equivalent to 1.8 of our minutes
ahn - Gorean hour of 40 ehn (Outlaw of Gor, page 26); equivalent to 1.2 hours on earth
day - 20 ahn (Outlaw of Gor, page 26); exactly equivalent to an Earth day (same orbital and rotational speed, 365 days on both worlds in an identical year)
hand - 5 days
month - 5 hands
year - 12 months with interspersed "passage hands" of 5 days each and one additional "waiting hand" at its end

Mathematical Problem of Time:
One Day (it matters not whether on Earth or on Gor, see below)
Gorean Measure Earth Measure
20 ahn 24 hours
800 ehn (Outlaw) or 1080 ehn (Raiders) 1440 minutes
64000 ihn 86400 seconds

Regarding the Discrepancy (explained in much greater detail on the Contradictions Page):
I believe that John Norman meant to say the ehn is 80 GOREAN seconds in Raiders of Gor, on page 2. I assume that he had a nice neat-sounding 20-40-80 ahn-ehn-ihn... then failed the math, hence recommends following the 2nd set of conversions:
1 day = 20 ahn = 800 ehn = 64,000 ihn = 24 hours = 1,440 minutes = 86,400 seconds
1 ahn = 40 ehn = 3,200 ihn = 1.2 hours = 72 minutes = 4,320 seconds
1 ehn = 80 ihn = 1.8 minutes = 108 seconds
1 ihn = 1.35 seconds
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Length & Distance
hort - approximately 1¼ inches (Raiders of Gor, ch 15; Tribesman of Gor, page 49)
ah'il - length from tip of middle finger to the elbow, used primarily in measuring cloth (Tribesman of Gor, page 50)
ah'ral - 10 ah'ils (Tribesman of Gor, page 50)
foot - 10 horts or 12½ earth-inches (Raiders of Gor, pages 127-128)
pasang - approximately 0.7 miles (Tarnsman of Gor, page 58 & Outlaw of Gor, page 25)

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Direction
"For purposes of convenience I am recounting directions in English terms, thinking it would be considerably difficult for the reader to follow references to the Gorean compass. Briefly, for those it might interest, all directions on the planet are calculated from the Sardar Mountains, which for the purposes of calculating direction play a role analogous to our north pole; the two main directions, so to speak, in the Gorean way of thinking are Ta-Sardar-Var and Ta-Sardar-Ki-Var, or as one would normally say, Var and Ki-Var; 'Var' means a turning and 'Ki' signifies negation; thus, rather literally, one might speak of 'turning to the Sardar' and 'not turning to the Sardar', something like either facing north or not facing north; on the other hand, more helpfully, the Gorean compass is divided into eight, as opposed to our four, main quadrants, or better said, divisions, and each of these itself is of course subdivided. There is also a system of latitude and longitude figured on the basis of the Gorean day, calculated in Ahn, twenty of which constitute a Gorean day, and Ehn and Ihn, which are subdivisions of the Ahn, or Gorean hour. Ta-Sardar-Var is a direction which appears on all Gorean maps; Ta-Sardar-Ki-Var, of course, never appears on a map, since it would be any direction which is not Ta-Sardar-Var. Accordingly, the main divisions of the map are Ta-Sardar-Var, and the other seven; taking the Sardar as our "north pole" the other directions, clockwise as Earth clocks move (Gorean clock hands move in the opposite direction) would be, first, Ta-Sardar-Var, then, in order, Ror, Rim, Tun, Vask (sometimes spoken of as Verus Var. or the true turning away), Cart, Klim, and Kail,and then again, of course, Ta-Sardar-Var. The Cartius River incidentally, mentioned earlier, was named for the direction it lies from the city of Ar." (Nomads of Gor, footnotes on page 3)
Volume
"A handful with the five fingers closed, not open, is a tef. Six such handfuls constitute a tefa, which is a tiny basket. Five such baskets constitute a huda." (Tribesman of Gor, page 46)
tef - a fistful (Tribesman of Gor, page 46)
tefa - a tiny basket of 6 tef (Tribesman of Gor, page 46)
huda - 5 tefa, 30 tef (Tribesman of Gor, page 46)
gill (Outlaw of Gor, page 34)
talu (Tribesman of Gor, page 242) - approximately 2 gallons
Weight
stone - roughly 4 Earth pounds (Raiders of Gor, page 127)
weight - 10 stone, 40 pounds (Raiders of Gor, page 127 & Tribesman of Gor, page 37)

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Measurements

A Gorean compass commonly has a luminescent dial and needle. The needle always
points to
the Sardar Mountains. It may also have a chronometer on the back. You press a
tab to open
the back panel and reveal the time piece.

A pasang= is about seven-tenths of a mile. Most travel distances are expressed
in pasangs.
Speeds are also expressed in these units.

A hort= equals 1 1/4 inches. Ten horts equal a Gorean foot, which is about 12
1/2 inches long.
Height is normally expressed in horts. There are tape measures that are marked
in horts.

An ah-il= is the distance from the elbow to tip of the middle finger, about
eighteen inches.
This is similar to an Earth cubit. Ten ah-il equal one ah-ral. Cloth is
commonly measured
in these units. Ah-ils are not used to express height.

A huda= equals five tefa. Six tefs equal one tefa, a tiny basket. A tef consists
of a handful,
with the fingers closed, of produce.

A stone= equals about four pounds. A weight equals ten stone. Weight is normally
expressed in
stones.

A talu= is equal to about two gallons.





Edited by Julalina, Oct 30 2010, 06:06 PM.
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