Abstract
Since the first decipherments of cuneiform writing in the XIX century, academics have been interested in the reconstruction of the ancient Near Eastern numerical and metrological systems as well as abstract ideas and techniques, which were identified, in modern times, as mathematics.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
for this topic, see [28], 268–274.
- 3.
- 4.
See the recent study on Hammurabi of Babylon by Dominique Charpin [6].
- 5.
For an overview of the ancient Near East history, [31].
- 6.
For the invention of cuneiform writing, see [13].
- 7.
See, for example [32].
- 8.
After 1600 BC, mathematical activity appeared to come to a halt in Mesopotamia. But our picture of Mesopotamian mathematics is skewed by the accidents of discovery and depends on excavations. Never-theless, one knows that, between 1600 and 1000 BCE, mathematical and metrological texts continued to be copied and learnt by apprentice scribes (for example in Aššur on the Tigris or in Hazor on the western coast).
- 9.
- 10.
One should note that, given the lack of archaeological context for most tablets, placing them in an accurate historical context was difficult.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
See [14].
- 15.
I give here an example, which was already described in details by Robson, because it is clear and convenient (for further commentary, see [28], 276–277). All the numbers are given in the modern transliteration of the sexagesimal place value system. Sexagesimal places are separated by a space. In order to approach the absolute value of a sexagesimal number, academics use a semicolon to mark the boundary between the whole and fractional parts of the number. For example, 14; 30 stands for 14+30×60−1 = 141/2 and 3 03 for 3 ×60+3 = 183.
- 16.
[28], 290.
- 17.
See [27].
- 18.
See [2].
- 19.
See [19].
- 20.
See [7] for this development of the number concept.
- 21.
See [5], 419–33.
- 22.
- 23.
See [26].
- 24.
- 25.
See [8].
- 26.
26See [22].
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Chambon, G. (2012). Numeracy, Metrology and Mathematics in Mesopotamia: Social and Cultural Practices. In: Emmer, M. (eds) Imagine Math. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2427-4_21
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