UR, Regensburg

The Babylonian Mathematics and Prediction of the Lunar Phenomena

A short introduction to Babylonian Mathematics: the early interpretation of Babylonian mathematical texts as being rhetoric algebra. The present status of Babylonian Mathematics: New research shows that the algebraic procedures were guided by means of geometric figures, and new cuneiform tablets indicate how mathematics was thought in old Babylon. The cuneiform tablet TU 11 has been known in cuneiform transcription since 1920. It is concerned with predicting rules for lunar phenomena; but very hard to understand and translate. The talk I will show how computer simulated lunar data were used to understand the text and to reconstruct some of the rules.