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THE MOSCOW MATHEMATICAL PAPYRUS The ''Moscow Mathematical Papyrus'' is also called the ''Golenischev Mathematical Papyrus,'' after its first owner, Egyptologist Vladimir Goleniščev . It later entered the collection of the Pushkin State Museum Of Fine Arts in Moscow, where it remains today. Based on the Palaeography of the Hieratic text, it probably dates to the Eleventh Dynasty Of Egypt . Approximately 18 Feet long and varying between 1 1/2 and 3 Inch es wide, its format was divided into 25 problems with solutions by Vasily Struve in 1930. The mathematics, however, is illegible in some spots and erroneous in others. Nevertheless, one problem in particular, the 14th, has received some heightened interest among present-day historians. The 14th problem of the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus is the most difficult problem. It calculates the volume of a Frustum . The problem states that a pyramid has been divided (or ''truncated'') in such a way that the top area is a square of length 2 units, the bottom a square of length 4 units, and the height 6 units, as shown. The volume is found to be 56 units, which is correct. The calculation shows that the Egyptians knew the general formula for the volume of a frustum, as displayed on the bottom of the picture. We do not know how the Egyptians arrived at the formula for the volume of a frustum. THE RHIND MATHEMATICAL PAPYRUS The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (''i.e.'' papyrus British Museum 10057 and pBM 10058), is named after Alexander Henry Rhind , a Scottish antiquarian, who purchased the Papyrus in 1858 in Luxor, Egypt ; it was apparently found during illegal excavations in or near the Ramesseum . The British Museum, where the papyrus is now kept, acquired it in 1865 ; there are a few small fragments held by the Brooklyn Museum in New York . The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus dates to the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt . It was copied by the scribe Ahmes (''i.e.,'' Ahmose; ''Ahmes'' is an older Transcription favoured by historians of mathematics), from a now-lost text from the reign of King Amenemhat III ( 12th Dynasty ). Written in the Hieratic script, this Egyptian Manuscript is 33 cm tall and over 5 meters long, and was first translated in the late 19th Century . The papyrus has 84 problems with worked examples, written on both sides. Taking up roughly one third of the manuscript is a table which expresses 2 divided by the odd numbers from 5 to 101 in terms only of unit fractions. Other topics covered include what we today recognise as Algebra , Geometry and Trigonometry . In the opening paragraphs of the papyrus, Ahmes presents the papyrus as giving “Accurate reckoning for inquiring into things, and the knowledge of all things, mysteries...all secrets”. SEE ALSO REFERENCES General
Moscow Mathematical Papyrus
Rhind Mathematical Papyrus
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