New mathematical cuneiform texts

DOI10.1007/978-3-319-44597-7MaRDI QIDQ310890zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Jöran Friberg, Farouk N. H. Al-Rawi

Publication date 8 September 2016

Published in Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44597-7

Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to history and biography (01-02) History of mathematics of the indigenous cultures of Europe (pre-Greek, etc.) (01A15) History of Babylonian mathematics (01A17)

Review text

This book is a collection of new and not so new mathematical cuneiform texts. The new texts were discovered by the second author in several museums around the world; among them are the British Museum, the Iraq Museum and the Suleimaniyah Museum. The material presented in this book is divided into 14 chapters. The first two chapters deal with tables of regular sexagesimal numbers, their reciprocals and their calculation. Chapters 3 and 4 present metrological tables from Uruk and Nippur, Chapters 5 and 6 problems from plane geometry. The remaining chapters discuss the fair distribution of goods, calculations with bricks, tables of constants, interest rates and, in the last chapter cowritten by Anthony Phillips, mazes and labyrinths. The tablet SM~2685 from the Suleimaniyah Museum in Iraq, which is discussed in Chapter 13, is an example of a so far unpublished table of reciprocal numbers with product \(60\), such as \(5\) and \(12\). The pair right after \(5\) and \(12\) consists of \(5 \frac13\) \(11;15\), where \(11;15\) means \(11\) plus \(15\) shekels, i.e., \(11 + \frac{15}{60}\) since a shekel is the sixtieth part of a mina. In later tables, the number \(5 \frac13\) would have been written as \(5;20\). In addition, the table contains irregular pairs such as \(7\) and \(8 \frac12 4\), where the latter number is to be read as \(8\frac12\) plus \(4\) sixtieths. The first author presents a hand copy, a transliteration, a reconstruction of the missing parts of the table, and then explains the method behind his reconstruction. The reviewer finds this table particularly interesting since it suggests that reciprocal tables originated from economic problems. The present book is intended for readers who already are familiar with Babylonian mathematics. Those who would like to introduce themselves to the fascinating mathematics of the ancient Mesopotamian cultures should rather consult the first author's books [Amazing traces of a Babylonian origin in Greek mathematics. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific Publishing (2007; Zbl 1180.01001); Unexpected links between Egyptian and Babylonian mathematics. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific (2005; Zbl 1128.01002)] or \textit{O. Neugebauer}'s masterpiece [Mathematische Keilschrift-Texte. Teil I, II und III. Berlin: Springer-Verlag (1973; Zbl 0255.01001)].

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