Egyptian geometry

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The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus

Egyptian geometry refers to geometry as it was developed and used in Ancient Egypt.
Their geometry was a necessary outgrowth of surveying to preserve the layout and
ownership of farmland, which was flooded annually by the Nile river.[1]

We only have a limited number of problems from ancient Egypt that concern geometry.
Geometric problems appear in both the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus (MMP) and in
the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (RMP). The examples demonstrate that the ancient
Egyptians knew how to compute areas of several geometric shapes and the volumes of
cylinders and pyramids.

Area
[edit]
The ancient Egyptians wrote out their problems in multiple parts. They gave the title and
the data for the given problem, in some of the texts they would show how to solve the
problem, and as the last step they verified that the problem was correct. The scribes did
not use any variables and the problems were written in prose form. The solutions were
written out in steps, outlining the process.

Egyptian circle
Egyptian units of length are attested from the Early Dynastic Period. Although it dates to
the 5th dynasty, the Palermo stone recorded the level of the Nile River during the reign
of the Early Dynastic pharaoh Djer, when the height of the Nile was recorded as 6 cubits
and 1 palm (about 3.217 m or 10 ft 6.7 in).[2] A Third Dynasty diagram shows how to
construct a circular vault using body measures along an arc. If the area of the Square is
434 units. The area of the circle is 433.7.

The ostracon depicting this diagram was found near the Step Pyramid of Saqqara. A
curve is divided into five sections and the height of the curve is given in cubits, palms,
and digits in each of the sections.[3] [4]

At some point, lengths were standardized by cubit rods. Examples have been found in
the tombs of officials, noting lengths up to remen. Royal cubits were used for land
measures such as roads and fields. Fourteen rods, including one double-cubit rod, were
described and compared by Lepsius.[5] Two examples are known from the Saqqara tomb
of Maya, the treasurer of Tutankhamun.

Another was found in the tomb of Kha (TT8) in Thebes. These cubits are 52.5 cm
(20.7 in) long and are divided into palms and hands: each palm is divided into four
fingers from left to right and the fingers are further subdivided into ro from right to left.
The rules are also divided into hands[6] so that for example one foot is given as three
hands and fifteen fingers and also as four palms and sixteen fingers.[2][4][7][8][9][6]

Cubit rod
from the Turin Museum.
Surveying and itinerant measurement were undertaken using rods, poles, and knotted
cords of rope. A scene in the tomb of Menna in Thebes shows surveyors measuring a
plot of land using rope with knots tied at regular intervals. Similar scenes can be found
in the tombs of Amenhotep-Sesi, Khaemhat and Djeserkareseneb. The balls of rope are
also shown in New Kingdom statues of officials such as Senenmut, Amenemhet-Surer,
and Penanhor.[3]

Areas

Object Source Formula (using modern notation)

Problem 51 in RMP and problems 4, 7 and

triangle
17 in MMP b = base, h = height A= 1/2 bh

Problem 49 in RMP and problems 6 in

rectangles
MMP and Lahun LV.4. problem 1 b = base, h = height A = bh
 d= diameter. This uses the value 256/81
Problems 51 in RMP and problems 4, 7
circle = 3.16049... for n =3.14159
and 17 in MMP
A= 1/4 ( 246/81)d2

hemisphere Problem 10 in MMP

Triangles:
The ancient Egyptians knew that the area of a triangle is where b = base and h =
height. Calculations of the area of a triangle appear in both the RMP and the MMP. [10]

Rectangles:
Problem 49 from the RMP finds the area of a rectangular plot of land [10] Problem 6 of
MMP finds the lengths of the sides of a rectangular area given the ratio of the lengths of
the sides. This problem seems to be identical to one of the Lahun Mathematical
Papyri in London. The problem also demonstrates that the Egyptians were familiar with
square roots. They even had a special hieroglyph for finding a square root. It looks like
a corner and appears in the fifth line of the problem. Scholars suspect that they had
tables giving the square roots of some often used numbers. No such tables have been
found however.[11] Problem 18 of the MMP computes the area of a length of garment-
cloth.[10]

The Lahun Papyrus Problem 1 in LV.4 is given as: An area of 40 "mH" by 3 "mH" shall
be divided in 10 areas, each of which shall have a width that is 1/2 1/4 of their length.
[12]
A translation of the problem and its solution as it appears on the fragment is given on
the website maintained by University College London.[13]

Circles:
Problem 48 of the RMP compares the area of a circle (approximated by an octagon)
and its circumscribing square. This problem's result is used in problem 50.

Trisect each side. Remove the corner triangles. The resulting octagonal figure
approximates the circle. The area of the octagonal figure is:
Next we approximate 63 to be 64 and note that

Thus the number plays the role of π = 3.14159....

That this octagonal figure, whose area is easily calculated, so accurately approximates
the area of the circle is just plain good luck. Obtaining a better approximation to the area
using finer divisions of a square and a similar argument is not simple. [10]

Problem 50 of the RMP finds the area of a round field of diameter 9 khet. [10] This is
solved by using the approximation that circular field of diameter 9 has the same area as
a square of side 8. Problem 52 finds the area of a trapezium with (apparently) equally
slanting sides. The lengths of the parallel sides and the distance between them being
the given numbers.[11]

Hemisphere:
Problem 10 of the MMP computes the area of a hemisphere.[11]

Volumes
[edit]

Image of Problem 14 from

the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus. The problem includes a diagram indicating the
dimensions of the truncated pyramid.
Several problems compute the volume of cylindrical granaries (41, 42, and 43 of the
RMP), while problem 60 RMP seems to concern a pillar or a cone instead of a pyramid.
It is rather small and steep, with a seked (slope) of four palms (per cubit).[10]

A problem appearing in section IV.3 of the Lahun Mathematical Papyri computes the
volume of a granary with a circular base. A similar problem and procedure can be found
in the Rhind papyrus (problem 43). Several problems in the Moscow Mathematical
Papyrus (problem 14) and in the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (numbers 44, 45, 46)
compute the volume of a rectangular granary.[10][11]

Problem 14 of the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus computes the volume of a truncated

pyramid, also known as a frustum.

Volumes

Object Source Formula (using modern notation)

measured in cubic-cubits V= 256/81r2

Cylindrical granaries RMP 41

Cylindrical granaries RMP 42, Lahun IV.3 V=32/27 d2 h = 128/27 r2 h (measured in

 Khar ).

RMP 44-46 and MMP w = width, l = length, h = height

Rectangular granaries
14
V=wlh

Truncated pyramid
(frustum)
MMP 14 V= I/3 ( a2 + ab + b2 ) h

Seked
[edit]
Problem 56 of the RMP indicates an understanding of the idea of geometric similarity.
This problem discusses the ratio run/rise, also known as the seked. Such a formula
would be needed for building pyramids. In the next problem (Problem 57), the height of
a pyramid is calculated from the base length and the seked (Egyptian for slope), while
problem 58 gives the length of the base and the height and uses these measurements
to compute the seked.

References
[edit]

1. ^ Erlikh, Ḥagai; Erlikh, Hạggai; Gershoni, I. (2000). The Nile: Histories, Cultures, Myths.
Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-1-55587-672-2. Retrieved 9
January 2020. The Nile occupied an important position in Egyptian culture; it influenced
the development of mathematics, geography, and the calendar; Egyptian geometry
advanced due to the practice of land measurement "because the overflow of the Nile
caused the boundary of each person's land to disappear."
2. ^ Jump up to:a b Clagett (1999).
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Corinna Rossi, Architecture and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt,
Cambridge University Press, 2007
4. ^ Jump up to:a b Englebach, Clarke (1990). Ancient Egyptian Construction and
Architecture. New York: Dover. ISBN 0486264858.
5. ^ Lepsius (1865), pp. 57 ff.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b Loprieno, Antonio (1996). Ancient Egyptian. New York:
CUP. ISBN 0521448492.
7. ^ Gardiner, Allen (1994). Egyptian Grammar 3rd Edition. Oxford: Griffith
Institute. ISBN 0900416351.
8. ^ Faulkner, Raymond (1991). A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Griffith Institute
Asmolean Museum, Oxford. ISBN 0900416327.
9. ^ Gillings, Richard (1972). Mathematics in the Time of the Pharaohs.
MIT. ISBN 0262070456.
10. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Clagett, Marshall Ancient Egyptian Science, A Source Book.
Volume Three: Ancient Egyptian Mathematics (Memoirs of the American Philosophical
Society) American Philosophical Society. 1999 ISBN 978-0-87169-232-0
11. ^ Jump up to:a b c d R.C. Archibald Mathematics before the Greeks Science, New Series,
Vol.71, No. 1831, (Jan. 31, 1930), pp.109-121
12. ^ Annette Imhausen Digitalegypt website: Lahun Papyrus IV.3
13. ^ Annette Imhausen Digitalegypt website: Lahun Papyrus LV.4