Hand (unit) radix numbering system, where a hand is four inches. The hand, sometimes also called a handbreadth or handsbreadth, is an anthropic unit, originally based on the breadth of a male human hand, either with or without the thumb, or on the height of a clenched fist. On surviving Ancient Egyptian cubit-rods, the royal cubit is divided into seven palms of four digits or fingers each. Five digits are equal to a hand, with thumb; and six to a closed fist. The royal cubit measured approximately 525 mm, so the length of the ancient Egyptian hand was about 94 mm. In
How to Measure a Planet? it brought them a whole new fanbase. "How to Measure a Planet?" remains something of a high point for the Gathering, with tracks from the album making up the majority of their two subsequent live albums, "Superheat (album)" (2000) and "Sleepy Buildings" (2004). In Japan, a one-CD version of the album was released, omitting the nearly half-hour title track. Having already achieved some moderate success with "Mandylion" and "Nighttime Birds", the group felt trapped in an artistically controlled corner, which was very limited due to the high expectations from their fan base. Following the departure of guitarist Jelmer Wiersma, the