Mathematical tablets from Tell Harmal
After a series of editions of mathematical cuneiform texts by \textit{F. Thureau-Dangin} [Textes mathématiques Babyloniens. Transcrits et traduits. Leiden: E. J. Brill (1938; JFM 64.0007.01); Textes mathématiques Babyloniens. Leiden: Brill (1938; Zbl 0022.09703)], \textit{O. Neugebauer} [Mathematische Keilschrift-Texte. I, II. Berlin: Julius Springer (1935; Zbl 0012.09701; JFM 61.0008.05); Mathematische Keilschrift-Texte. III: Ergänzungsheft. Berlin: Julius Springer (1937; Zbl 0012.09701; JFM 63.0006.01); Mathematische Keilschrift-Texte. Mathematical cuneiform texts. Edition with translation and commentary in German. Teil I, II und III. Reprint. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag (1973; Zbl 0255.01001)], \textit{E. M. Bruins} and \textit{M. Rutten} [Textes mathématiques de Suse. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner (1961; Zbl 0101.00403)] there have been several modern editions, in particular by \textit{J. Friberg} [A remarkable collection of Babylonian mathematical texts. Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection: Cuneiform Texts I. New York, NY: Springer (2007; Zbl 1125.01001)] and \textit{C. Proust} [Tablettes mathématiques de Nippur. Paris: De Boccard; Beyoğlu-Istanbul: Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes Georges Dumézil (2007; Zbl 1204.01004); Tablettes mathématiques de la collection Hilprecht. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag (2008; Zbl 1166.01004)]. This book presents the content of 12 mathematical tablets from the site of Tell Harmal dating back to the Old Babylonian era. These tablets have already been published in the 1950s by Taha Baqir, but the progress in understanding Babylonian mathematics due to recent publications e.g. by \textit{J. Høyrup} [Lengths, widths, surfaces. A portrait of old Babylonian algebra and its kin. New York, NY: Springer (2002; Zbl 0999.01001); L'algèbre au temps de Babylone. Quand les mathématiques s'écrivaient sur de l'argile. Inflexions. Paris: Vuibert/Adapt-SNES (2010; Zbl 1326.01006)] made it desirable to take a new look at this well known set of documents. For each tablet, a transliteration and transcription is provided, which are presented as faithfully as possible. This is followed by philological comments, a translation, and mathematical comments. Among the tablets discussed here, IM 55357 is certainly the most famous: it deals with the division of a right triangle into subtriangles and exhibits the scribe's familiarity with the concept of similarity. Other tablets deal with more practical situations concerning, e.g., the transportation of bricks or the number of men needed to build a wall. Unfortunately, there is not a single photograph or even a hand copy of the twelve tablets presented in this book because the author could not get in touch neither with Sumer, the Iraqi journal in which Bahir's publications appeared, nor with the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad. It seems that e.g. IM 55357 was last seen (and photographed) in 2001, and that up to now nobody was able to find out whether the tablets discussed here disappeared when the Museum was pillaged after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Although this book is written for specialists of Babylonian mathematics rather than for aficionados, I recommend it to all those who have been hooked after reading some of the books mentioned above, which were aimed at a wider audience.
scientific article; zbMATH DE number 6482023