Weight in the Form of a Frog
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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026
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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG
Ancient Egyptians used weights, like this small frog, to help calculate the value of goods. One Ancient Egyptian unit of measurement was the qedet , equivalent to about nine grams. While this piece is small, it weighs 36.1 grams, or about 4 qedets . Since some animals were associated with favorable characteristics like strength and affluence, they became a popular form for weights during the New Kingdom. The Ancient Egyptians linked frogs to fertility and rebirth, likely because of the animal’s prolific reproduction. These ties to abundance may have made frogs a suitable form for objects used to determine value.
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