TheEgyptianNumerationSystem
Egyptiannumeralshavebeenfoundonthewritingsonthestonesofmonumentwallsofancient time.Numbershavealsobeenfoundonpottery,limestoneplaques,andonthefragilefibersofthe papyrus.Thelanguageiscomposedofheiroglyphs,pictorialsignsthatrepresentpeople,animals, plants,andnumbers. TheEgyptiansusedawrittennumerationthatwaschangedintohieroglyphicwriting,whichenabled themtonotewholenumbersto1,000,000.Thesystemhadadecimalbaseandallowedforthe additiveprinciple.Inthisnotationtherewasaspecialsignforeverypoweroften.ForI,avertical linefor10,asignwiththeshapeofanupsidedownUfor100,aspiralropefor1000,alotus blossomfor10,000,araisedfinger,slightlybentfor100,000,atadpoleandfor1,000,000,an astonishedmanwithupraisedarms. Decimal Egyptian Number Symbol 1= 10= 100= 1000= 10,000= 100,000= 1,000,000= staff heelbone coilofrope lotusflower pointingfinger tadpole astonishedman
Thishieroglyphicnumerationwasawritten versionofaconcretecountingsystemusingmaterial objects,i.e.,agroupingtallysystem.Torepresentanumber,thesignforeachdecimalorderwas repeatedasmanytimesasnecessary.Tomakeiteasiertoreadtherepeatedsignstheywereplaced in groupsoftwo,three,orfourandarrangedvertically.
Projectnote:TheRhindpapyrusandtheMoscowpapyrusaretwoancientEgyptian documentsthatshowthesolutionstoquiteanumberofmathematicalproblems,some practicalinnatureandsomepurelyinvestigatingthenatureofnumbers.
Example1. ThefollowingchartshowshowsomenumberswouldberepresentedusingEgyptian symbols.
1= 2= 3= 4= 5=
10= 20= 30= 40= 50=
100= 200= 300= 400= 500=
1000= 2000= 3000= 4000= 5000=
Inwritingthenumbers,thelargestdecimalorderwouldbewrittenfirst.Thenumberswerewritten fromrighttoleft. Example2.
46,206=
Belowaresomeexamplesfromtombinscriptions. A B C D
77
700
7000
760,00
AdditionandSubtraction: ThetechniquesusedbytheEgyptiansfortheseareessentiallythe
sameasthoseusedbymodernmathematicianstoday.TheEgyptiansaddedbycombiningsymbols. Theywouldcombinealltheunits( )together,thenallofthetens( )together,thenallofthe hundreds( ),etc.Ifthescribehadmorethantenunits( ),hewouldreplacethosetenunitsby . Hewouldcontinuetodothisuntilthenumberofunitsleftwaslesthanten.Thisprocesswas continuedforthetens,replacingtentenswith ,etc. Forexample,ifthescribewantedtoadd456and265,hisproblemwouldlooklikethis
(=456)
(=265)
Thescribewouldthencombinealllikesymbolstogetsomethinglikethefollowing
Hewouldthenreplacetheelevenunits( )withaunit( )andaten( ).Hewouldthenhaveone unitandtwelvetens.Thetwelvetenswouldbereplacedbytwotensandoneonehundred.Whenhe wasfinishedhewouldhave721,whichhewouldwriteas
. Subtractionwasdonemuchthesamewayaswedoitexceptthatwhenonehastoborrow,itisdone withwritingtensymbolsinsteadofasingleone. Homework: 1.RewritethefollowingnumbersusingEgyptiansymbols: (a)512 (b)9,000,300 (c)4,020
2.Addthegivennumbers,usingEgyptiansymbols.Showtheregroupingstep. 729+486 3.Subtractthegivennumbers,usingEgyptiansymbols.Showtheborrowingstep. 30228
