Agyptische Algorithmen: Eine Untersuchung zu den mittelagyptischen mathematischen Aufgabentexten.

• Author: Depuydt, Leo
• Position: Book Review

Agyptische Algorithmen: Eine Untersuchung zu den mittelagyptischen mathematischen Aufgabentexten. By ANNETTE IMHAUSEN. Agyptologische Abhandlungen, vol. 65. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2003. Pp. xi + 387. [euro]58 (paper).

The earliest as well as most of the evidence for hieroglyphic mathematics dates to the first half of the second millennium B.C., to several hundred years after the birth of full-fledged writing. Two papyri dating to that era preserve most of what we have, the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus and the Papyrus Rhind. A similar but more sophisticated development is observed around the same time in cuneiform sources from Mesopotamia. Near Eastern mathematics then stagnates until the Greek miracle of the later first millennium B.C. Two factors place Egypt in the forefront of this resumed growth. First, Alexander's conquest makes Greek into an Egyptian language, indeed Egypt's preferred vehicle of intellectual discourse. Second, royal philanthropy transforms Alexandria into the world center for the study of mathematics for several centuries.

The present work, originally a doctoral dissertation at the University of Mainz, offers two new approaches to hieroglyphic mathematics. First, mathematics is embedded in daily life and culture. For example, if a math problem is about measuring wood, information on this material is culled from a wide range of sources. Second, each problem is summarized in an "algorithm" according to a method identified by J. Ritter. "Algorithm" is more or less synonymous to "sequence of tasks," as in "do this, then that, and so on." An algorithm represents a problem's structure stenographically. The aim is to facilitate the comparison of problems with one another and with other forms of mathematical thought. In the book's second part, almost all of the relevant texts are re-edited with transliteration and translation.

When all had seemed said and done in the study of Egyptian math, this book proves that there are yet more insights to be mined. This book has many fine qualities. It stands as testimony to the author's successful efforts to become deeply acquainted with almost everything there is to know about hieroglyphic math. The comprehensive bibliography, numbering close to four hundred items, bears witness to the depth and the wide scope of the project. The clear presentation invites engagement with the material. Past research is brought up to date. The book can serve at the same time as a handbook and as a workbook on the subject.

A complex manuscript was seen into print with great care. Few infelicities are spotted. Note the following; the numbers ("no.") are those of the problems in pRhind. P. 38, n. 130: for "jn" read "jn-m." P. 197, n. 1,3: for "5" read "5." P. 205, n. to no. 23,5: "1/8" is needlessly corrected into "1/4." P. 206, bottom: for "Vernus 1997" read "Vernus 1990." P. 208, no. 26,5: for "w[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]h-tp" read "w[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]h." P. 219, no. 33, hieroglyphic text: delete...