Artificial language in ancient Mesopotamia -- a dubious and a less dubious case (Q509756): Difference between revisions

It has been claimed that artificial language can be found in the cuneiform documents from Mesopotamia [\textit{O. Neugebauer}, Vorlesungen über Geschichte der antiken mathematischen Wissenschaften. I: Vorgriechische Mathematik. Berlin: J. Springer (1934; JFM 60.0002.01), pp. 68--72] in the sense that the logographic writing of Babylonian mathematical tablets can be read like (modern) symbolic algebra. The author gives a short overview of the development of this algebra. He then shows by carefully interpreting a few Babylonian mathematical texts that these do not make use of artificial language (or symbolic algebra), even if they have a very stereotyped terminology. By contrast the very creation of cuneiform writing was directed towards an artificial language that was meant to reliably organise and keep economic records, and thus to establish and develop a bureaucratic order. Only after some centuries of use was the writing applied to represent spoken language.