Jerib

The jerib or djerib (Persian: جریب; Turkish: cerip) is a traditional unit of land measurement in the Middle East and southwestern Asia. It is a unit of area used to measure land holdings (real property) in much the way that an acre or hectare are. Like most traditional units of measure, the jerib originally varied substantially from one location to another. However, in the twentieth century, the jerib has been regionally, if not uniformly defined. In many countries where it was traditionally used, it is equated with the hectare, for example in Turkey and Iran.^[1][2] In Afghanistan, however, it is standardized at 2,000 square metres (0.49 acres).^[2][3]

Comparison of Area units jerib to metric/English jerib m-ft ha-acre 1 jerib (Iran) 10,000 m2 1 hectare 1 jerib (Iran) 107,639 ft² 2.4711 acre 1 jerib (Afghan) 2,000 m2 0.2 hectare 1 jerib (Afghan) 21,760 ft² 0.4942 acre metric/English to jerib units jerib (Iran) jerib (Afghan) 1 ha 1 jerib (I) 5 jerib (A) 1 acre 0.4049 jerib (I) 2.0234 jerib (A) 10,000 sq yd 0.8361 jerib (I) 4.1806 jerib (A)

The jerib was roughly equivalent to the other customary land measures in south Asia and the Middle East, the Indian bigha and the Sumerian iku, varying between 1,600 and 3,600 square metres (0.40 and 0.89 acres). The word is probably derived from Arabic.^[4]

Historical

The royal enclosure at Isfahan in Iran was named Hazar Jerib for the expanse of irrigated acreage, namely 1000 jeribs.^[5][6]