Jeremy Rosen

Dr. DAntonio
History of Math
September 29, 2016
Babylonian vs. Egyptian Mathematics
In ancient Babylon and Egypt, mathematics was an esoteric subject reserved
for scribes, priests, and bureaucrats. These elite individuals developed mathematics
by extending their calculations beyond such practical concepts as calendar-making
and tax collection. However, ancient mathematicians often refrained from writing
these calculations in detail; as a result, it is challenging for historians to reconstruct
their work. Despite this challenge, historians have been able to paint a decent
picture of Babylonian and Egyptian mathematics (Katz). While Babylon and Egypt
have significantly different histories and methods for doing arithmetic and
geometry, they also have similarities in these fields that befit societies from the
same time period.
One of the biggest differences between ancient Babylon and Egypt is the
relative stability of the regions. According to J.M. Dubbey, the Egyptians were able
to accomplish such feats as constructing nearly perfect right angles for their
pyramids because of their unusual [political] security. The Babylonians did not
enjoy such security because of fighting among competing city-states, along with
foreign invasions from the Hittites and Assyrians. As a result, later societies, such as
the classical Greeks, were able to learn much more about Egyptian than Babylonian
mathematics. In fact, Raymond Claire Archibald notes that Greek mathematicians
were ignorant of Babylonian developments in arithmetic and algebra. However,
both Archibald and Dubbey explain that Babylonian and Egyptian mathematicians
were able to build engineering marvels in irrigation and architecture due to a strong
focus on applied mathematics.
In addition to their work in engineering, such mathematicians developed their
own number systems, enabling them to work with addition, multiplication, and
fractions. The Babylonian system was sexagesimal, or base-60. Archibald speculates
that 60 was a useful base because 60 is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20,
30, and itself. Because of this system, Babylonians would write numbers (in
cuneiform, their writing system) in the somewhat cumbersome format:
x = (, d, b, a; c, e, ), that is, x = +d*60^2 + b*60 + a + c*60^-1 +
e*^60^-2 + .
On the other hand, the Egyptian system was the more familiar base-10 (Dubbey).
But like the Babylonian system, the Egyptian system had a complication: Egyptians
wrote their numbers additively (in hieroglyphics, their writing system). In other
words, 243 = 100 + 100 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 1 + 1 + 1 (Dubbey). More
advanced calculations were also possible in Babylon and Egypt. Babylonian tablets

feature multiplication tables, along with squares and cubes (Archibald), whereas
Egyptians were able to multiply unit fractions via duplication (Dubbey).
Geometrically, whether the Babylonians or Egyptians were more advanced is
open for debate. Both societies were able to make basic geometric calculations,
such as the volume of a pyramid (Dubbey and Archibald), and understand the
meaning of pi. But the Egyptians composed a much better approximation of pis
value, the square of 8/9, than the Babylonians, who approximated pi as 3. In
addition, despite the Babylonians base-60 system, they apparently failed to
recognize that a circle can be divided into 360 degrees (Archibald). Yet the
Babylonians undoubtedly knew of the Pythagorean theorem, a concept of which the
Egyptians were ignorant (Archibald). However, the holes in Egyptian geometric
theory did not prevent them from building the pyramids, the last standing wonder of
the ancient world.
Ultimately, the degree of the similarities and differences between Babylonian
and Egyptian mathematics is not that surprising, considering that these societies
existed during the same time period but rarely interacted with each other and had
very different political climates. In addition, while modern mathematics is
significantly more concise (compared to base-60 and additive notations) and
comprehensive than that of Babylon and Egypt, it is clear that both civilizations had
the mathematics they needed for advanced technologies from irrigation systems to
pyramids.
Works Cited
Archibald, Raymond Claire. Babylonian Mathematics. Isis, vol. 26, no. 1, 1936, pp.
63-81.
Dubbey, J.M. Mathematics of Ancient Egypt. Mathematics in School, vol. 4, no. 5,
1976, pp. 26-8.
Katz, Victor J. A History of Mathematics. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2009.