Babylonian and Egyptian Maths
Babylonian and Egyptian mathematics
Early Babylonia existed from about 3100 B.C. to 2100 B.C. When discussing the Babylonian history, we refer to the land area between Tigris and Euphrates rivers northward to Assyria. We must also consider a non-Semitic tribe called the Sumerians. They dwelt in the land of Sumer at the head of the Persian Gulf coming from the mountainous region to the east. They developed a numeral system in the 28th century B.C. and because of the deprivation of stones in their environment, resorted to bricks. They wrote on clay tablets with round and pointed sticks which resulted in wedge-shaped or cuneiform characters. These clay tablets after being written on were baked by fire or in the sun which preserved it well to this day. The records for these tablets proved that nearly 3000 years before Christ, the Sumerians were already aware of bills, receipts, notes and systems of measure. In here we also find evidence to an approach to a scientific calendar, though later than the Egyptians, which use for the very first time a counting scale of 60.
Sargon the great ruler ruled in about 2750 B.C. He began his rule in Akkad which is a district north of Sumer. During his reign, records of eclipses were found indicating that the numeral system used at the time must have been well advanced. Another great ruler of this time period was Hammurabi or Hammurapi who reigned in 2100 B.C. Around the time the world’s first code of laws was written in which the calendar was reformed. Some remains found from his time were the ruins of the oldest known school-house discovered by French archaeologists in 1894. Amongst the tablets that were found was evidence of the knowledge of the Babylonians in arithmetic. Despite their unusual numeral system, archaeologists concluded that these early Babylonians had some knowledge of computation, mensuration and commercial practices. The period in which many of these tablets were found is known as the Old Babylonian period and
Early Babylonia existed from about 3100 B.C. to 2100 B.C. When discussing the Babylonian history, we refer to the land area between Tigris and Euphrates rivers northward to Assyria. We must also consider a non-Semitic tribe called the Sumerians. They dwelt in the land of Sumer at the head of the Persian Gulf coming from the mountainous region to the east. They developed a numeral system in the 28th century B.C. and because of the deprivation of stones in their environment, resorted to bricks. They wrote on clay tablets with round and pointed sticks which resulted in wedge-shaped or cuneiform characters. These clay tablets after being written on were baked by fire or in the sun which preserved it well to this day. The records for these tablets proved that nearly 3000 years before Christ, the Sumerians were already aware of bills, receipts, notes and systems of measure. In here we also find evidence to an approach to a scientific calendar, though later than the Egyptians, which use for the very first time a counting scale of 60.
Sargon the great ruler ruled in about 2750 B.C. He began his rule in Akkad which is a district north of Sumer. During his reign, records of eclipses were found indicating that the numeral system used at the time must have been well advanced. Another great ruler of this time period was Hammurabi or Hammurapi who reigned in 2100 B.C. Around the time the world’s first code of laws was written in which the calendar was reformed. Some remains found from his time were the ruins of the oldest known school-house discovered by French archaeologists in 1894. Amongst the tablets that were found was evidence of the knowledge of the Babylonians in arithmetic. Despite their unusual numeral system, archaeologists concluded that these early Babylonians had some knowledge of computation, mensuration and commercial practices. The period in which many of these tablets were found is known as the Old Babylonian period and