Berlin papyrus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Berlin papyrus 6619, commonly known as the Berlin papyrus^[1], is an ancient Egyptian papyrus document from the 19th dynasty circa 1300 - 1200 BCE. This papyrus was found at the Saqqara ancient Egyptian burial ground in the early 19th Century.

The papyrus contains ancient Egyptian mathematical and medical knowledge, including the first known documentation concerning pregnancy test procedures.

The Berlin Papyrus contains a problem stated as "the area of a square of 100 is equal to that of two smaller squares, of two second degree equations. The side of one is $\begin{matrix}\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4}\end{matrix}$ the side of the other."^[2] The interest in the question may suggest some knowledge of what would later be named the Pythagorean Theorem, though it more likely shows a straight forward solution of two second degree equations, stated as one unknown, and not two two unknows, as sometimes suggested.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Lumpkin, Beatrice. The Mathematical Legacy of Ancient Egypt - A Response to Robert Palter. 2004. National Science Foundation. p17 http://www.ethnomath.org/resources/lumpkin1997.pdf#search=%22%22berlin%20mathematical%20papyrus%22%20number%22
^ Richard J. Gillings, Mathematics in the Time of the Pharoahs, Dover, New York, 1982, 161.