Ancient Egyptian Mathematics

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Ancient Egyptians were a very important aspect to our past. The earliest forms of math derived from ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians lived in what is known as the old kingdom. They were the fits tot practice the mathematical and scientific arts. The word chemistry is derived from the word Alchemy which is and ancient name for Egypt. Egypt required math to create buildings, manage food supplies, and compute the flood levels of the Nile. They would use systems of dividing units of time such as sixty like we still use today for hours and minutes. They used “formal” math as far back as 3000 B.C., but basic math can be dated as far back as 2690 C.A. They are also believed to be the first to use fractions, although they wrote their fractions differently than we do today. Their mathematics had an emphasis on measurement and calculations. With their vast knowledge in geometry they were able to calculate the areas of triangles, bricks, trapezoids and pyramids. The Egyptians practiced the mathematical arts through hieroglyphics, pyramids, and the Rhind Papyrus.
Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics for many things including mathematics. They had a decimal system using seven different symbols for the multiples of the number ten. One was represented by a single stroke. Ten was represented by a drawing of a hobble for cattle. One hundred was represented by a coil of rope. One thousand was represented by a drawing of a lotus plant. Then thousand was represented by an index finger. One hundred thousand was represented by a drawing of a tadpole or a frog. One thousand one hundred was represented by the figure of a god with his hands lifted above his head (Egyptian Math History). When writing numbers the higher number always went in front of the lo...

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... If the Egyptians had not discovered the formulas and theorems that they did so long ago we would not be so far along in math that we are today.

Works Cited

Egyptian Math History. 1996-2014. 12 February 2012 .
History of Fractions. 1997-2014. 15 November 2014 .
MacPhee, Issac M. "The Mathematics of Ancient Egypt." 3 November 2013.
Miller, Mark. Discovering Ancient Egypt . 1997-2013. 15 November 2013.
Phi, Pi and the Great Pyramid of Egypt at Giza. 1997-2013. 3 February 2014 .
Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. 2014. 12 February 2014 .
Robins, Gay and Charles Shute. The Rhind Mathematical Paprus;an ancient Egyptian Text. Dover Pubns, 1990.
"The Egyptian Pyramid." 1999.

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