Babylonian Mathematics
Babylonian Mathematics1
1 Introduction
Our first knowledge of mankind’s use of mathematics comes from the Egyptians and Babylonians. Both civilizations developed mathematics that was similar in scope but different in particulars. There can be no denying the fact that the totality of their mathematics was profoundly elementary2 , but their astronomy of later times did achieve a level comparable to the Greeks.
Assyria
2 Basic Facts
The Babylonian civilization has its roots dating to 4000BCE with the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. Yet little is known about the Sumerians. Sumer was first settled between 4500 and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic
1 °2002, c 2 Neugebauer,
G. Donald Allen 1951
Babylonian Mathematics
2
people who did not speak the Sumerian language. These people now are called Ubaidians, for the village Al-Ubaid, where their remains were first uncovered. Even less is known about their mathematics. Of the little that is known, the Sumerians of the Mesopotamian valley built homes and temples and decorated them with artistic pottery and mosaics in geometric patterns. The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in the region. They drained marshes for agriculture, developed trade and established industries including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. The people called Sumerians, whose language prevailed in the territory, probably came from around Anatolia, probably arriving in Sumer about 3300 BC. For a brief chronological outline of Mesopotamia see http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/introduction/briefchonology.htm. See also http://www.wsu.edu:8080/˜dee/MESO/TIMELINE.HTM for more detailed information. The early Sumerians did have writing for numbers as shown below. Owing to the scarcity of resources, the Sumerians adapted the ubiquitous clay in the region developing a writing that required the use of a stylus to carve into a soft clay tablet. It predated the
1
10
60
600
3,600
36,000
cuneiform (wedge) pattern
1 Introduction
Our first knowledge of mankind’s use of mathematics comes from the Egyptians and Babylonians. Both civilizations developed mathematics that was similar in scope but different in particulars. There can be no denying the fact that the totality of their mathematics was profoundly elementary2 , but their astronomy of later times did achieve a level comparable to the Greeks.
Assyria
2 Basic Facts
The Babylonian civilization has its roots dating to 4000BCE with the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. Yet little is known about the Sumerians. Sumer was first settled between 4500 and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic
1 °2002, c 2 Neugebauer,
G. Donald Allen 1951
Babylonian Mathematics
2
people who did not speak the Sumerian language. These people now are called Ubaidians, for the village Al-Ubaid, where their remains were first uncovered. Even less is known about their mathematics. Of the little that is known, the Sumerians of the Mesopotamian valley built homes and temples and decorated them with artistic pottery and mosaics in geometric patterns. The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in the region. They drained marshes for agriculture, developed trade and established industries including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. The people called Sumerians, whose language prevailed in the territory, probably came from around Anatolia, probably arriving in Sumer about 3300 BC. For a brief chronological outline of Mesopotamia see http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/introduction/briefchonology.htm. See also http://www.wsu.edu:8080/˜dee/MESO/TIMELINE.HTM for more detailed information. The early Sumerians did have writing for numbers as shown below. Owing to the scarcity of resources, the Sumerians adapted the ubiquitous clay in the region developing a writing that required the use of a stylus to carve into a soft clay tablet. It predated the
1
10
60
600
3,600
36,000
cuneiform (wedge) pattern