#ahmes

Papyrus of Ahmose or Mathematical Rhind (1500 BC / 1550 BC) is the oldest manuscript written in Algebra and Trigonometry.

Manuscript shows that Egyptians used first-order equations and solved them in several ways.

They know quadratic equations and solve them. They also know numerical and geometric sequences and know quadratic equations like two :

X2 + y2 = 100,

Y = 3/4 x, where x = 8, y = 6,

This equation is the origin of Pythagoras theorem, a2 = b 2 + c 2, and Egyptians used to call unknown number (koom).

Pythagoras developed his mathematical theories after travelling to Egypt and learning from Egyptian priests.

This has been proven in books of Greek historians and scholars such as Farpharius of Sour, Herodotus, and Thales.

Egyptians had Algebra, Trigonometry, and Geometry about 2000 years before the birth of Pythagoras and about 3000 years prior to al-Khwarizmi being born.

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The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (RMP; also designated as papyrus British Museum 10057 and pBM 10058) is one of the best known examples of ancient Egyptian mathematics.

It is named after Alexander Henry Rhind, a Scottish antiquarian, who purchased the papyrus in 1858 in Luxor, Egypt.

Ahmes, “Scribe of accounts of gold” and “Overseer of the works of the god Amun”, kneels holding a stela with a prayer to the sun god Re.

Granite.

New Kingdom, 1550-1300 BC

An Egyptian Mathematics Science Saturday

While Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 BCE) is often considered the first to calculate the value of Pi (π), the Egyptians got pretty darn close a millennium and a half or so earlier, as evidenced by the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. Copied by the scribe Ahmes sometime around 1650 BCE from an earlier text, the papyrus gives us a remarkable insight not only into Egyptian mathematics but also customs and culture, from taxation and farming practices to the exchange rate between beer and bread. It is named after Scottish antiquarian Alexander Henry Rhind, who acquired the papyrus sometime around 1858. Held by the British Museum since 1865, it is now suspected that the papyrus entered the antiquities market as a result of illegal excavations. 

Our facsimile of the papyrus was the result of fifteen years of scholarship by mathematician Arnold Buffum Chace. The first volume was published in Oberlin, Ohio by the Mathematical Association of America in 1927, with the second volume following in 1929. All of the above images are from the second volume, which contains photographs of the papyrus, as well as transcription transliterations and literal translations by Chace. Chace was assisted in his work by mathematician Henry Parker Manning and Egyptologist Ludlow Seguine Bull. Also included in the second volume is a supplement to the “Bibliography of Egyptian Mathematics” from the first volume, both of which were prepared by Raymond Clare Archibald. 

The first publication of the Rhind Papyrus was a translation into German in 1877 by August Eisenlohr. The Mathematical Association of America publication was part if a flurry of new scholarship surrounding the papyrus following advancements in scholarly understanding of Egyptian writing. In the preface to our edition, Chace notes the important 1923 translation by Eric Peet published by Liverpool University Press. Chace remarks that “Egyptologists ... will find philological matters fully discussed by Professor Peet,” while he intended for his work to be geared towards both mathematicians and the general public.

Both volumes were originally donated to the Library of the State Teachers College Milwaukee by the Carnegie Corporation of New York with their bookplate. 

Check out more Science Saturday posts here. 

Ahmes seriously be like: