Weighing stones in ancient Mesopotamia (Q1604654)

The article analyses the Old Babylonian text YBC 5652, a catalogue of problem statements (with appurtenant solutions but no description of the procedure) of the type: I found a stone; I did not weigh it I added/removed \(p\) I added/removed \(q\) (of the resulting weight); 1 mana (resulted), \(p\) and \(q\) being mostly aliquot parts, at times absolute contributions or combinations of relative and absolute contributions; the mana is a fundamental weight unit \((=60\) shekel). The author proposes that solutions were to be found in two- or three-step backward calculations making use of the method of a single false position, arguing (correctly), firstly, that this method is well attested in the Old Babylonian material, secondly, that almost all resulting calculations would involve only numbers listed directly in the standard tables of reciprocals and multiplication. The problems are pointed out to have been constructed with pedagogical care and insight. One small correction: Li Ma in the bibliography should be Ma, Li (or Ma Li); correspondingly, in note 21 [Li Ma 1993] should be [Ma 1993] .