This egyptian papyrus is not a theoretical treatise, but a list of practical mathematical problems encountered an administrative and building works. The text contains 84 problems concerned with numerical operations, practical problem-solving, and geometrical shapes. These include methods of determining the slope of a pyramid, and the multiplication and division of fractions. The majority of literate Egyptians were scribes and they were expected to undertake various tasks that must have demanded some mathematical as well as writing skills.
The papyrus is also important as a historical document, since the copyist noted that he was writing in year 33 of the reign of Apophis, the penultimate king of the Hyksos Fifteenth Dynasty (about 1650-1550 BC) and was copied after an original of the Twelfth Dynasty (about 1985-1795 BC).
The papyrus is named after a Scottish lawyer, A.H.Rhind, who acquired it during a stay in Thebes in the 1850s.
From Thebes, Egypt,
c. 1550 BC
Ht 32 cm
The papyrus is also important as a historical document, since the copyist noted that he was writing in year 33 of the reign of Apophis, the penultimate king of the Hyksos Fifteenth Dynasty (about 1650-1550 BC) and was copied after an original of the Twelfth Dynasty (about 1985-1795 BC).
The papyrus is named after a Scottish lawyer, A.H.Rhind, who acquired it during a stay in Thebes in the 1850s.
From Thebes, Egypt,
c. 1550 BC
Ht 32 cm