Why Were the Babylonians So Good at Maths?
In short: Surviving clay tablets show how Mesopotamian scribes worked with base 60, from a 4,200-year-old record of jars of pig fat to Old Babylonian multiplication tables, Plimpton 322 and a precise map of Nippur.
A 2:10 short film in the series “Before Babylon”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.
Sources used in this film: University of Cambridge (Cambridge University Library), “A Stray Sumerian Tablet: Unravelling the story behind Cambridge University Library’s oldest written object”; Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, “Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI)”; Springer (Archive for History of Exact Sciences), “Two old Babylonian multiplication tables - Archive for History of Exact Sciences”; National Geographic, “The oldest known map of this Mesopotamian city is startlingly precise”; Springer Nature (journal Foundations of Science), “Plimpton 322: A Study of Rectangles - Foundations of Science”.
Sources used in this film
- University of Cambridge (Cambridge University Library) — A Stray Sumerian Tablet: Unravelling the story behind Cambridge University Library’s oldest written object · View →
- Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford — Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) · View →
- Springer (Archive for History of Exact Sciences) — Two old Babylonian multiplication tables - Archive for History of Exact Sciences · View →
- National Geographic — The oldest known map of this Mesopotamian city is startlingly precise · View →
- Springer Nature (journal Foundations of Science) — Plimpton 322: A Study of Rectangles - Foundations of Science · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: University of Cambridge (Cambridge University Library): A Stray Sumerian Tablet: Unravelling the story behind Cambridge University Library’s oldest written object
- Also: Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford: Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI)
- Also: Springer (Archive for History of Exact Sciences): Two old Babylonian multiplication tables - Archive for History of Exact Sciences
- Also: National Geographic: The oldest known map of this Mesopotamian city is startlingly precise
- Also: Springer Nature (journal Foundations of Science): Plimpton 322: A Study of Rectangles - Foundations of Science
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