The art of weights and measures.= Agirlik ve ölçü sanati. [Exhibition catalogue]. Coord. by Zeynep Ögel. Soft cover - 2022

Istanbul: Pera Museum, 2022. Soft cover. New. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Paperback. 4to. (28 x 24 cm). In English and Turkish. 183 p., color and b/w ills. Setting forth concepts related to weighing and measuring meant developing both practical and philosophical links with the world. When ancient civilizations used seeds produced in the fertile soils of Mesopotamia to establish the first units of weight, the observations they made in relation to the act of measuring created a springboard for civilizations to thrive. The 2nd millennium BC saw the frontiers of discovery advancing along the trade routes between Mesopotamia and Anatolia. While the fascination with precision in weighing and measuring continued, there was a corresponding migration of myths from the realms of the gods to the land of mortals, and concepts like truth and justice became associated with the balancing of the suspended pans of weighing scales. In ancient Egypt the sins of the deceased were weighed on a set of scales, while in ancient Greek and Roman cultures, the weighing scale was a symbol of justice and an indispensable illustrative element in the depiction of gods and goddesses. In Byzantine society, too, the act of just and accurate weighing resonated deeply with ethical sensibilities and recalled the weighing of souls. And in the Ottoman Empire, precise weighing represented the foundations of trust, not only in trade but also just as notably in religious life. "Man is the measure of all things: of the things that are, that they are, of the things that are not, that they are not," proclaimed Protagoras. The endeavor to measure the world with a handful of units brought forth the capacity to recreate it in the abstract. As the measurement of discovery became the substance of myths, weighing and measuring, beyond being mere physical actions, became an important means of self-expression to those captivated by the universe and what lay beyond the boundaries of knowledge. With a selection of objects from the Suna and Inan Kiraç Foundation Anatolian Weights and Measures Collection, The Art of Weights and Measures aims to explore, through the eyes of civilizations, gods, merchants, master craftsmen, and their apprentices from the 2nd millennium BC to the present day, how weights and measures have shaped economies, cultures, and intercultural relations, their impact on social dynamics of trust, and their journey towards becoming standardized units.