The History of Mathematics: Ancient Period

The History Of Babylon

The Babylon was the capital city of the Ancient Babylonian Empire,
which itself is a term referring to either of two separate empires in the
Mesopotamia are in of two separate empires achieved regional
dominance between 19th and 15th century BC and again between 7th and
6th centuries BC. The city is built along both river banks of the Euphrates
rivers had steep embankments to contain the river’s seasonal floods.
The earliest known mention of Babylon as a small town appears on a
Clay tablet from reign of Sargon of Akkad(2234-2279 BC) of Akkadian
Empire. The site of the ancient city lies just south of the present-day
Baghdad. The last known record of habitation of the town dates from
the 10th century AD, when it was referred to as the “small village of
Babyl”.

Babylonian Empire- was the ancient Akkadian speaking state of cultural

area based I central-southern Mesopotamia(Present- day Iraq) and
parts f Syria. A small Armite-ruled state emerged in 1894 BC.

BC- Meaning “Before Christ”

Mesopotamia- A historical region of western Asia situated with in the

Tigris-Euphrates river system, in northern part of the Fertile Crescent.
Today is called as Iraq

The Euphrates- is the longest river and one of the most historically
important rivers in Western-Asia. So another term for Mesopotamia(The
land between two rivers)

Baghdad- Is the capital of Iraq and the second largest city in the Arab
world after Cario

Sargon of Akkad- Also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of
Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of Sumerian City-states in the
24th and 23rd centuries BC.

Akkadian Empire- The first ancient Empire of Mesopotamia after the

long-lived civilization of Sumer.
 The History of Mathematics: Ancient Period

The Geography of Babylon

Geographically, the empire of Babylonia occupied the middle and
southern part of Mesopotamia. It is situated between the River’s of
Tigris and Euphrates, it stretched from the present-day city of Baghdad
south of Persian Gulf.

The Remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil Governate, Iraq,
about85 kilometers(53miles) south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of
broken mud-brick buildings and debris

Tell or Tel- A mound or a small hill, an artificial topographical feature, a

type of mound

The site of Babylon consists of a number of mounds covering an area of

about 2 by 1 kilometers, oriented north to south along Euphrates to the
west..

The Number System of the Babylonians

The Babylonians, who are famous for their astronomical observations as
well as their calculations(aided by their invention of Abacus). They use
Sexagesimal(Base 60) positional number system inherited from either
Sumerian of Akkadian civilizations.

Sexagesimal or Base 60- is a numeral system with 60 as its base.

The Materials they use in Mathematics

Babylonian Mathematics( Also known as Assyro- Babylonian

Mathematics) are the Mathematics developed or practiced by the
people of Mesopotamia from the days of early Sumerians to the
centuries following the fall of Babylon in 539BC.

Babylonian Clay Tablet- Scientists discovered the people of a famous

3700-year old Babylonian Clay Tablet, revealing it is the world’s oldest
 The History of Mathematics: Ancient Period

and most trigonometric table possibly used by ancient Mathematical

scribes to calculate on how to construct palaces, temples and build
canals. The new research shows that Babylonian beat Greeks to the
invention of trigonometry- A study in triangles by more than 1000 years.

Covered Topic of the Clay Tablet:

-Fractions
-Algebra
-Quadratic Equations
-Cubic Equations
-Pythagorean Theorem

Did you know that the Greeks are not the first to study Trigonometry?
The Babylonians first studied the triangles.

Cuneiform Scripts- A logo-syllabic script that was used to write several

languages of the Ancient middle east. It is named for the Characteristics
wedge-Shaped impressions(Latin: Cuneus) which formed its sign.

Cuneiform was originally developed to write the Sumerian language of

the southern Mesopotamia(Iraq in this modern time). So basically,
Cuneiform is the earliest known writing system.

Manly, The Abacus is a Latin word that has its origins in the Greek words
abax or abakon meaning table or tablet. The abacus is one of many types
of counting devices which are used to count large numbers.

The Salamis Tablet- The oldest surviving counting board is the Salamis
Tablet(Originally thought to be a gaming board), used by the
Babylonians Circa 300BC, discovered in1846 on the Island of
Salamis(where its name came from).

Converting The Babylonian Numerals to Hindu

Arabic
Babylonian Numerals are quite difficult if you’ll just look on its outer
meaning yet its not that hard when you understand its true essence
 The History of Mathematics: Ancient Period

Example:
1. Convert <<<vvvvv

So the first step is to Identify what are the numerals:

<=10
V=1
As we can see it has three “<” which means it can be simplified as 30 and
five “v” that can be simplified to as 5

Here’s the process:

<<<+vvvvv
30 5

=35

!But take note, that kind of process only applies on numbers below 60!

So let’s have another example:

Convert <<v < vvv

First step is to Identify the place value of the Babylonian numeral system

<<v < vvv

21 10 3

Then from right to left do this

...,60^4,60^3,60^2,60,1

Next process is Multiply it on the Base 60 Numerals:

21(60^20)+ 10(60)+ 3(1)

=21(3600)+ 600+ 3
=75,600+600+3
=76,203

How can we Identify whether the given Babylonian is higher or below

the base which is 60? So simply look at the given if it has space between
each other. If it has space on each other, then it means that the given is
 The History of Mathematics: Ancient Period

higher than 60, if it doesn’t have space between, it is lower than the
base itself.

Converting Hindu Arabic to Babylonian Numerals

The given example is:
1. Convert 8010 to Babylonian Numerals.

First step is, make a box

Then Identify which number can 8010 fits.
So basically 60^3 doesn’t count so immediately cross it out
60^3=216,000 60^2=3600 60 1
Quotient

remainder

8010 suits on 60^2 so it means that we will use the second column.

The next process is that we divide 8010 by 3600

8010/3600
=2 with a remainder of 810

Then divide the remainder which is 810 by 60

810/60

=13 with a remainder of 30

Lastly, divide the final remainder which is 30/1

3o/1
=30 without a remainder

60^2=3600 60 1
Quotient 2 13 30

Remainder 810 30 0
 The History of Mathematics: Ancient Period

So the Babylonian Equivalent of 8010 is:

vv <vvv <<<
how did we got the answer?

Based on the Graph itself, vv=2, <vvv=13, <<<=30. So that’s why we got
the answer vv <vvv <<<.

Application:
Test 1: Convert Babylonian Numeral to Hindu Arabic.(Show your
process)

1. <<<vvv
2. <<vvvvv
3. << vv <<
4. vvv <<v
5. <<<vvv

Test 2: Convert Hindu Arabic to Babylonian Numerals.(Show your

process)
1. 59
2. 613
3. 61
4. 242
5. 5015