The Egyptian And Babylonian Mathematicians

Ancient civilizations across history have shown unique and incredible feats of mankind. Arguably, two of the most prominent ancient civilizations in the Middle East and even the world are the Mesopotamians (Beginning 5,000 B.C.) and Egyptians (Beginning 3,150 B.C). Even though these two civilizations peaked about 2,000 years apart, they share numerous similarities contributing to their success, and also show even more differences that distinguish how each had a unique culture and way of life.

River Valley civilizations were the first to occur throughout time. Two of the most advanced were Egypt and Mesopotamia. Although both had a male dominant government that was supported by a patriarchal king or leader, Egypt had a strong, centralized government whereas Mesopotamia was decentralized and was based upon small city-states operating independently. To add, Egypt was also classified as self sufficient rather than Mesopotamia who relied on trade because of unstable agriculture. Due to Egypt surpassing Mesopotamia in areas such as governmental structure, self sufficiency, and cultural traditions, Egypt proves to be the more advanced society.

Among the many scholars working in the House of Wisdom, there was Al-Khawarizmi, known as the father of algebra. Born around 800 in Baghdad, al-Khwarizmi worked in the House of Wisdom as a scholar. Being involved in the center’s translation of ancient scientific knowledge helped him develop a unique knowledge of the accumulated wisdom of the world. His importance lies in his discoveries of mathematical knowledge which was later transferred to Arab and European scholars. His masterpiece, a book of clear explanations of what would become algebra, was his entire life’s work compiled into one collection of information. The word algebra comes from the Arabic word, al-jabr, which means “completion”. In his work, al-Khwarizmi explains the principles of solving linear and quadratic equations, the concept that an equation can be created to find the value of an unknown variable. Another crucial work of al-Khwarizmi’s was The Book on the Art of Reckoning of the Hindus, which introduced the numbering system used in the Islamic culture to the west. This is the numerical system that is still used today and offered many advantages over the existing Roman numerals. An

Most societies that developed in ancient civilizations were centered around their belief systems. The Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were no different in this sense. Both civilizations were polytheistic and built elaborate temples to praise their gods. Additionally, the leaders in both regions were believed to be related to the gods because of the great power they held and the wealth under their control. However, the Mesopotamians had a pessimistic outlook on life because of the unpredictability of their environment. The Egyptians, on the other hand, had an optimistic outlook because the Nile River inundated their region regularly, which could be predicted by the stars. The similarities and differences in the religions of these two

The Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion and society were similar, but their government system was different. The religions in Egypt and Mesopotamia were similar because both were polytheistic, had beliefs of an afterlife, as well as priests who were part of the upper levels of the social hierarchy. Social similarities between Egypt and Mesopotamia included: rigid social structure, dependence on slavery, and authoritative religious structure. However, the system of government was different because Egyptian society was governed by a theocratic monarchy, while Mesopotamia was ruled by a traditional monarchy.

Think about this; think about how right now, in this very moment there are teams of scientists and engineers working to develop better and smarter technology. But in another country far away they could be doing the same exact thing. About 2000 years ago, the Mayans and the Egyptians were exactly like this. They lived on different sides of the world, with the Mayans in Mexico/Central America and the Egyptians in Egypt. Yet both civilizations developed similar inventions and ideas but, used them for very different things. Inventions like pyramids and ideas on religion and culture.

Mesopotamia and Egypt are known as the “place of the first civilization” followed by the Hebrews. These three societies traded extensively, but there was a difference in economic area. Mesopotamia was more productive of technological improvements, because their environment was more difficult to manage than the Nile valley. Trade contacts were more extensive, and the Mesopotamians gave attention to a merchant class and commercial law. Priests were part of the trades because they possessed surplus produce collected as rents from the farmers using temple land. Before merchants gained power as independent entrepreneurs; they used to serve the king and the temple priest.

Egypt and Mesopotamia were successful civilizations because they were able to adapt to their harsh surroundings because of the influence of their powerful leaders. This is first example of this when it mentions that their only building tool was mudbrick due to their lack of resources(document 1). They were able to brilliantly adapt to their surroundings and were able to invent things like the arch and the dome out of hardened mud. Mud brick was also used to create the ziggurat(document 7). Mud brick was their only resource because they were so isolated from everything else. They also could really only inhabit the euphrates river because the Tigris river would flood a lot, so that’s why all of the cities are on the Euphrates (document 2).

He finds Utnapishtim, the one in the Faraway place and the only mortal granted immortality by the gods. He wants to have what Utnapishtim has and he can't: the "prize" granted to Utnapishtim for a task well accomplished in saving the species before the flood. The story of the flood is probably the strongest passage that connects Mesopotamian traditions to the Hebrews' and the main difference lays in the moral value the Hebrews place on the story, versus the lack of it of the Mesopotamians. This lack of moral

Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt are both cradles of civilization. Both contributed greatly to human development through their achievements, failures, peoples, scientific accomplishments, philosophies, religions, and contributions.

Mesopotamia was the land between two rivers, and it was part of the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent was a large arc of rich farmland, that goes from the Gulf of Persia to The Mediterranean Sea. Mesopotamia was a very fertile land that was perfect for farming, so opposing civilizations wanted control of this fertile land. This land referred to was fought for by three civilizations and, each took Mesopotamia within different time frames. When they did not have control of this land, they would all fight against the others to get it. The civilizations were the Sumerians, the Akkadians, and the Chaldeans. The Sumerians were the first civilization in Mesopotamia, just below the Akkadians, and the Chaldeans were not from Mesopotamia, they came from the Syrian Desert. There was another group of people, not within Mesopotamia, but in the Fertile Crescent, and they were called the Phoenicians.

Cyrus II, more commonly referred to, as Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire. Cyrus is renowned for being one of the greatest historical conquerors, who in two decades (550-530) conquered all the major empires of the near east, including Media, Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian kingdoms; all these cities united created the largest empire the world had seen to that time . However in many ancient texts, such as the works of Xenophon, a number of sacred Jewish texts and the Babylonian peoples, Cyrus was often described as a ‘liberator’ as apposed to a conqueror . From a number of ancient written sources, including the Cyropaedia, Cyrus is depicted as a very tolerant and generous ruler, this attribute was a very important

Mesopotamia’s development occurred because of the geography setting the land was in. The rivers and the fertile lands were the main factors of their development. Mesopotamia, also known as the Fertile Crescent, allowed humans to stay in one place and farm because of the fertile soil. The rivers were the water resource the Sumerians needed to survive. The Common Themes Theory applied to early cities in Mesopotamia Egypt when they had a human right problem involving food and water. So, they came up with a solution of inventing irrigation systems which had an effect of population changes in the small villages.

Omar was also a poet, philosopher, and astronomer. Omar’s works were translated in 1851, which was research on Euclid’s axioms. In the medieval period, he expanded on Khwarizmi’s and the Greeks mathematic works. He only worked with cubic equations only and focused on geometric and algebraic solutions of equations. In 1145AD, Al-Khwarizmi’s book was translated by Robert Chester, which made it possible for algebra to be introduced to Europe. After algebra was introduced in Europe, European mathematicians developed and expanded on algebra concepts. Even though algebra began in the Arabic countries, once European mathematicians obtained the information of algebra, they became the leaders of mathematical discoveries in the world (“Mathematics”).

Babylonian civilization is considered as one of the most important civilizations in the ancient world. The Babylonians took and developed everything after the Sumerians civilization especially in the spiritual realm and in the field of building an integrated civilization. The earlier civilizations had big role in the Babylonians civilization period when Babylonians took all the cuneiform writing, mathematical and astronomical knowledge, in addition to that the method of building cities, dams and etc. they improved all of them. The development of knowledge continued by Babylonian where the Sumerians stop, and the Babylonian built an empire for themselves on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the southern part of Sumer (Iraq). "The first Amuriyahian family has ruled over Babylon in the period (1830- 1530 BC), when Babylon was a mini-states at the time." Then the greatest king of Babylonian Hammurabi appeared in the seventeenth century BC. He established a famous group of laws known by (Hammurabi code).Also he was the king who united this petty States and achieved an important architectural movement in the city of Babylon.