Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-224) and index.

Prehistoric and early dynastic period : The invention of writing and number notation -- The Egyptian number system -- Uses of numbers and their contexts in predynastic and early dynastic times -- Summary -- Old kingdom : The cultural context of Egyptian mathematics in the old kingdom -- Metrological systems : Length units ; Area units ; Capacity units ; Weights -- Notation of fractions -- Summary -- Middle kingdom : Mathematical texts (I): the mathematical training of scribes : Extant hieratic mathematical texts : Rhind mathematical papyrus ; Lahun mathematical fragments ; Papyrus Berlin 6619 ; Cairo wooden boards ; Mathematical leather roll ; Moscow mathematical papyrus. Teaching mathematics: mathematical procedure texts : The formal elements of a procedure text ; Collections of procedure texts. Types of mathematical problems -- Foundation of mathematics : Arithmetic techniques : Multiplication of integers ; Division of integers. Fraction reckoning : Multiplications and divisions involving fractions ; Using auxiliary numbers. Tables for fraction reckoning : 2 ÷ n table ; Mathematical leather roll. Metrological tables ; Summary -- Mathematics in practice and beyond : Distributions of rations : Ration problems within the mathematical texts ; Calculation of rations in Papyrus Berlin 10005 ; Further evidence. Architectural problems within the mathematical texts ; Mathematics of Papyrus Reisner I. Land measurement : Area calculations within the mathematical texts ; Evidence of land surveying. Summary -- New kingdom : New kingdom mathematical texts: Ostraca Senmut 153 and Turin 57170 -- Two examples of administrative texts : Papyrus Harris I ; Papyrus Wilbour -- Mathematics in literature : Mathematical education ; Mathematics in the scribe’s daily work ; Mathematics in Papyrus Anastasi I : Digging a lake (Papyrus Anastasi I, 13,6-13,7) ; Constructing a brick ramp (Papyrus Anastasi I, 13,8-14,8) ; Transport of an obelisk (Papyrus Anastasi I, 14,8-16,5) ; Erection of a colossal monument (Papyrus Anastasi I, 16,8-17,2) ; Rations for an expedition (Papyrus Anastasi I, 17,2-18,2) -- 15. Further aspects of mathematics from new kingdom sources : Mathematics and wisdom literature: metrology in the Teaching of Amenemope ; Mathematics in the Duties of the Vizier ; Mathematics and death ; Mathematics in architecture and art -- Summary -- Greco-Roman periods : Mathematical texts (II): tradition, transmission, development : Overview of extant demotic mathematical papyri : Papyrus Cairo JE 89127-30, 89137-43 ; Papyrus BM 10399 ; Papyrus BM 10520 ; Papyrus BM 10794 ; Papyrus Carlsberg 30 ; Papyrus Griffith I E7 ; Papyrus Heidelberg 663.Demotic arithmetic : Multiplication ; Division (and a note on types of fractions).Selected examples of demotic mathematical problems : Calculation of areas ; The pole-against-the-wall problems -- Conclusion: Egyptian mathematics in historical perspective

Print version record.

This book traces the development of Egyptian mathematics, from the end of the fourth millennium BC--and the earliest hints of writing and number notation--to the end of the pharaonic period in Greco-Roman times. The book surveys three thousand years of Egyptian history to present an integrated picture of theoretical mathematics in relation to the daily practices of Egyptian life and social structures. It shows that from the earliest beginnings, pharaonic civilization used numerical techniques to efficiently control and use their material resources and labor. Even during the Old Kingdom, a variety of metrological systems had already been devised. By the Middle Kingdom, procedures had been established to teach mathematical techniques to scribes in order to make them proficient administrators for their king. The book looks at counterparts to the notation of zero, suggests an explanation for the evolution of unit fractions, and analyzes concepts of arithmetic techniques. It draws connections and comparisons to Mesopotamian mathematics, examines which individuals in Egyptian society held mathematical knowledge, and considers which scribes were trained in mathematical ideas and why. Of interest to historians of mathematics, mathematicians, Egyptologists, and all those curious about Egyptian culture, the book sheds new light on a civilization's unique mathematical evolution.

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