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Mathematics
(6,466 words)

Almost all we know about the mathematics of the pre-Greek cultures of the Ancient Near East, essentially Mesopotamian and Egyptian mathematics, originates from written sources. These are mainly from the scribal traditions, even though some sources give a glimpse of the mathematics of ‘lay’ practitioners.

When scribes were concerned with the properties of mathematical objects, the purpose was always to calculate something. That is always true in professional practice, but it also holds for …

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Høyrup, Jens (Roskilde) and Folkerts, Menso (Munich), “Mathematics”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e726380>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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