Page:The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, Volume I.pdf/18

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2
INTRODUCTION

by Edwin Smith with his papyrus (see H. Breasted, The Edwin Smith Papyrus, Oxford, in press). This was discovered in 1922 when Professor Newberry, the English Egyptologist, suspected that they were some of the missing pieces and brought tracings of them to Professor Peet (see Bibliography under Ahmes, 1898). Peet publishes a plate (Plate E) on which with much skill he has arranged nearly all of the writing on them, and I have copied this writing on my plates, placing it with the problems to which it belongs, and including its translation with the translation of those problems. I have also put along with the photographs of the papyrus a photograph of the fragments placed in their proper positions, except for a few small pieces whose positions have not yet been determined.

The rest after the introductory paragraph may be divided into three parts,—an arithmetical part, a geometrical part, and a part containing a collection of miscellaneous arithmetical problems. In my judgment the arithmetical part is more exact than the geometrical part, and exhibits more reasoning power. The geometrical part reveals considerable knowledge of geometrical facts useful for the determination of volumes, areas, and line relations. The section of miscellaneous problems is interesting because it gives us some knowledge of Egyptian customs, their method of trading, of raising taxes, of feeding animals, and of fixing the comparative values of different foods and drinks by the amount that can be made from a unit of material. It contains also various methods of solution, some of which have come down to the present day and are found in our arithmetics.