Si.427 is a cadastral survey from Sippar in Northern Mesopotamia dating from 1900-1600 BCE, notable for containing accurate perpendicular lines and Pythagorean rectangles. This practical application of mathematics makes it "one of the most complete examples of applied geometry from the ancient world" . The tablet is currently on display at the Museum of the Ancient Orient, part of the İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri.
Provenance and Dating edit
Si.427 was unearthed during the French expedition at Tell Abu Habba in 1894, and deposited at the Musée impérial de Constantinople, now the İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri.
The tablet is believed to have been written during the First Babylonian Dynasty because it contains standard contractual phrases that were commonly used at this time. It further references Sîn-bēl-apli, a personage that is well attested to in contemporary Sippar [1].
Contents edit
The text is a cadastral survey concerning a field belonging to Sîn-bēl-apli. The field measures 1 bur 1 eŝe 4 iku 33 sar (approx. 25 acres) at first, and is reduced by the purchase of 7 eŝe (approx. 6 acres). The extent of the marshy region, or "water meadows", is particularly important and the text prominently states that 1 bur GANA 45 sar (approx. 16 acres) is water meadows. The actual locations of the water meadows and purchased area are not specified, but can be deduced by correlating their areas to the sketch.
There is a table of numbers on the reverse of the tablet which contains the results of area calculations. Remarkably, this table shows that the original field was surveyed twice: once with shapes that have a horizontal alignment, and a second time with shapes that have a vertical alignment.
| 18,53;20 | 6,3;55 |
| 5,24;50 | 28;44 |
| 1,7;30 | 8,30;45 |
| 4,33 | 1,7;30 |
| 46;10 | 51;35,30 |
| broken | 1,5;37,30 |
The text ends with the number 24,29 written in large numerals. The meaning of this number is unknown.
Interpretation edit
References edit
Category:Babylonian mathematics Category:Mathematics manuscripts Category:Clay tablets Category:18th-century BC works
- ^ a b Mansfield, Daniel F. (January 2020). "Perpendicular Lines and Diagonal Triples in Old Babylonian Surveying". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 72: 92. doi:10.1086/709309.
- ^ Mansfield, Daniel F. (January 2020). "Perpendicular Lines and Diagonal Triples in Old Babylonian Surveying". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 72: 87–99. doi:10.1086/709309.
- ^ Scheil, Vincent; Woestenburg, E. (1998). "Index Personal Names Old Babylonian "Sippar"". unpublished manuscript: 264–5.