Unexpected Links Between Egyptian and BaMesopotamian mathematics is known from a great number of cuneiform texts, most of them Old Babyonian, some Late Babylonian or pre-Old-Babylonian, and has been intensively studied during the last couple of decades. In contrast to this Egyptian mathematics is known from only a small number of papyrus texts, and the few books and papers that have been written about Egyptian mathematical papyri have mostly reiterated the same old interpretations and presentations of the texts. In this book, it is shown that the methods developed by the author for the close study of mathematical cuneiform texts can also be successfully applied to all kinds of Egyptian mathematical texts, hieratic, demotic, or Greek-Egyptian. At the same time, comparisons of a large number of individual Egyptian mathematical exercises with Babylonian parallels yield many new insights into the nature of Egyptian mathematics and show that Egyptian and Babylonian mathematics display greater similarities than expected. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
30 ninda a-na algorithm appr area rule Babylonian mathematical barig barley barley-corns base binomial fractions capacity measure circle segment clay tablet cubits cuneiform demotic mathematical diagonal diameter division problems drachmas drawing Egyptian mathematics en.nam equal equilateral triangle examples exercises false value Friberg front geometric progression given grain measure granary Greek mathematical H0yrup hand tablet height h heqat hieratic mathematical khet known length linear equations ma.na market rate mathematical cuneiform texts mathematical papyri MCTSC Mesopotamia metric algebra multiplication Neugebauer ninda notations ostracon P.Akhmim P.BM P.Cairo P.Heidelberg 663 P.Mich P.Moscow P.Rhind parallel Parker pesu recombination text rectangle reed result ridge pyramid right triangle round area number semicircle setat sexagesimal numbers shares shekels silver solution procedure square su.si system of equations ta-mar tabular array theme text tion transliteration transversal trapezoid truncated cone Uruk volume width