Article ID: CBB000950201

An Alternative to the Pythagorean Rule? Reevaluating Problem 1 of Cuneiform Tablet BM 34 568 (2008)

unapi

The first problem of the Seleucid mathematical cuneiform tablet BM 34 568 calculates the diagonal of a rectangle from its sides without resorting to the Pythagorean rule. For this reason, it has been a source of discussion among specialists ever since its first publication, but so far no consensus in relation to its mathematical meaning has been attained. This paper presents two new interpretations of the scribe's procedure, based on the assumption that he was able to reduce the problem to a standard Mesopotamian question about reciprocal numbers. These new interpretations are then linked to interpretations of the Old Babylonian tablet Plimpton 322 and to the presence of Pythagorean triples in the contexts of Old Babylonian and Hellenistic mathematics.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000950201/

Similar Citations

Article Proust, Christine; (2008)
Quantifier et calculer: usages des nombres à Nippur (/isis/citation/CBB000932283/)

Article Muroi, Kazou; (2000)
Quadratic Equations in the Susa Mathematical Text No. 21 (/isis/citation/CBB000770587/)

Article Yuste, Piedad; (2005)
Estudio geométrico de AO 17264 (/isis/citation/CBB000933617/)

Article Robson, Eleanor; (2001)
Mathematical cuneiform tablets in Philadelphia. Part 1: Problems and Calculations (/isis/citation/CBB000102368/)

Article Robson, Eleanor; (2000)
Mathematical Cuneiform Tablets in Philadelphia Part 1: Problems and Calculations (/isis/citation/CBB000770588/)

Book Proust, Christine; (2007)
Tablettes mathématiques de Nippur (/isis/citation/CBB000931495/)

Chapter Verderame, Lorenzo; (2002)
Enuma Anu Enlil Tablets I-XIII (/isis/citation/CBB000550746/)

Article Huber, Peter J.; Steele, John M.; (2007)
Babylonian Lunar Six Tablets (/isis/citation/CBB000773657/)

Article Stephenson, F. R.; Steele, J. M.; (2006)
Astronomical Dating of Babylonian Texts Describing the Total Solar Eclipse of S.E. 175 (/isis/citation/CBB000670067/)

Article Yuste, Piedad; (2004)
Trapezoidal Partition in Old Babylonian Geometry: A Note about Tablet TMS XXIII (/isis/citation/CBB000501258/)

Book Verderame, Lorenzo; (2002)
Le Tavole I-VI della serie astrologica Enuma Anu Enlil (/isis/citation/CBB000400979/)

Article Pangas, Julio Cesar; (2006)
Des rêves, de leurs troubles et de leurs thérapeutiques dans la Mésopotamie ancienne (/isis/citation/CBB000932464/)

Article Steele, J. M.; (2006)
Miscellaneous Lunar Tables from Babylon (/isis/citation/CBB000670057/)

Book Geller, Markham J.; (2005)
Renal and Rectal Disease Texts (/isis/citation/CBB000610337/)

Article Proust, Christine; (2012)
Reading Colophons from Mesopotamian Clay-Tablets Dealing with Mathematics (/isis/citation/CBB001420903/)

Book Ossendrijver, Mathieu; (2012)
Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts (/isis/citation/CBB001200940/)

Article Robson, Eleanor; (2004)
Mathematical Cuneiform Tablets in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (/isis/citation/CBB000520001/)

Article Clark, Kathleen; Robson, Eleanor; (2007)
Ancient Accounting in the Modern Mathematics Classroom (/isis/citation/CBB000831568/)

Book Montelle, Clemency; (2010)
Chasing Shadows: Mathematics, Astronomy, and the Early History of Eclipse Reckoning (/isis/citation/CBB001031330/)

Authors & Contributors
Robson, Eleanor
Yusta, Piedad
Steele, John M.
Proust, Christine
Verderame, Lorenzo
Stephenson, F. Richard
Concepts
Tablets; papyri
Mathematics
Astronomy
Cuneiform inscriptions
Primary literature (historical sources)
Geometry
Time Periods
Ancient
Places
Mesopotamia
Middle and Near East
Babylon (extinct city)
Sumer
Greece
India
Institutions
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment