A hypothetical history of Old Babylonian mathematics: places, passages, stages, development (Q2928869)

To introduce the topic, the author deplores the deficient descriptions of Babylonian mathematics in general works on the history of mathematics, even in recent ones. To specialists in this area, many more details are known today; the author gives an overview of writing development and of Old Babylonian mathematics in general. Few tablets of this corpus were found in scientific excavations. Therefore, their origin needs to be established from internal criteria. It turns out that most of them can be assigned to a few groups by means of orthographic and terminological peculiarities.NEWLINENEWLINEThe author sees the appearance of a ``new school culture'' beginning in the Old Babylonian period, stressing the professional self-consciousness of the scribes and their pride in abilities going far beyond everyday necessities. This attitude can also be seen in the mathematical problem texts appearing at this time. Using examples, the author gives the characteristics of this kind of mathematics. He then describes the groups into which the texts can be divided and, by comparing their situation in space and time, develops a possible history of Old Babylonian mathematics.