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How to Do Egyptian Arithmetic
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How to Do Egyptian Arithmetic
Methods of Calculations from the Rhind Papyrus
Jul 3, 2009 © Harry P. Schlanger
Reviewed are Egyptian calculation basics that readers can easily follow: identifying symbols,
writing numbers, and doing simple multiplication.
Everyone learns at school of the marvellous civilization that flourished in Egypt for thousands of
years. The Ancient Egyptians must have been good at mathematics as revealed by the pyramids, their
taxation system, and methods of measuring land.
In fact, they had a good system of mathematics more than 5000 years ago! What would life be like for
a young person growing up in
Ancient Egypt who was lucky enough to go to school in the temple? He would learn lots of arithmetic and
geometry.
Discovery of the Rhind Papyrus
The ancient Egyptians wrote their numerals on papyrus, a special paper made from reeds. They painted
numerals on pottery and carved them into the walls of their temples and pyramids.
It is known that the Egyptians worked diligently with a lot of mathematics because various papyri
were discovered with business mathematics on them.
One special papyrus, which is rather like a textbook, sets out the
various methods of doing calculations. This papyrus scroll was discovered and purchased in 1858 by an
Englishman Henry Rhind (1833-1863) in Luxor, Egypt,
about four thousand years after it was written by the scribe A'h-mose, or Ahmes. It is called the
Rhind Papyrus, or
sometimes, the Ahmes Papyrus.
Ancient Egyptian Numbers
Fig 1. How to Write Egyptian Numbers
The Arabic decimal system that Western societies use is based on ten digits, which when combined, can make
as big numbers as desired. Unlike the decimal system that never runs out of numbers, the Egyptian system
is pictorial and limited in its use.
Figure 1 shows basic Egyptian symbols for units, tens, and hundreds with an example given for each. To
illustrate numbers "Egyptian style," the number 734 can be seen to be constructed using a combination of
basic Egyptian symbols.
How to Do Multiplication
Egyptians only multiplied and divided by a factor of the number 2. For example, to multiply 11 x 7, start with the
numbers 1 and 7 and keep on doubling. It went like this:
- Start 1 7
- Double 2 14
- Double 4 28
- Double 8 56
To get 11 times, consider the left column (once + twice + 8 times), and then add the corresponding numbers
in the right column, i.e. 7 + 14 + 56 = 77.
This operation is quite easy to do, however, all these numbers would be written in Egyptian symbols!
More Information
Much information is available on Egyptian arithmetic. For a more complete list of basic numerical symbols and mathematical operations, such as addition,
multiplication, and fractions, the reader is referred to the
demon.co.uk and
Wikipedia websites.
The copyright of the article How to Do Egyptian Arithmetic: Methods of Calculations from the Rhind
Papyrus is owned
by Harry P. Schlanger. Permission to republish in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
smart-koala.com © 2009 All Rights Reserved
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