history of mathematics - National STEM Centre

14
The Babylonians
Activity 2.2 Babylonian tablets, 2
1 a Decipher the table and convert it to decimal notation, disregarding the last line
of the back.
b What kind of table is it?
2 Describe the structure of the Babylonian number system.
3 Look back to Figure 2.1. The top third of the tablet represents one number. What
number is it?
4 What is the main difference between the Old Sumerian and the Babylonian
number systems?
Figure 2.4a shows a transcription of a similar tablet found in Susa.
F- r
w
Figure 2.4a Figure 2.4b
111,
1 Decipher the table shown in Figure 2.4a. What kind of table is it?
2 The tablet is damaged, making the numbers in the first line and the last two lines
hard to recognise. Re-construct these lines.
3 Compare the fifth number in the left-hand column with the twelfth number in the
right-hand column. Write a brief explanation of your findings.
Figure 2.4b shows a tablet whose size is about 8 cm by 5 cm (and about 2 cm thick),
on which the multiplication table for ten is written.