Article
cognitive studies and ancient science, technology, and medicine
Courtney Roby
Article
Astronomical Diaries
Kathryn Stevens
The Astronomical Diaries are Akkadian texts from Babylon which contain observations of astronomical phenomena and selected events on earth. They are written in the cuneiform script and preserved on several hundred clay tablets, most of which are today in the British Museum.
Very few of the tablets are complete, and some are in an extremely fragmentary state. Where no date formula survives, it is often possible to date them based on the astronomical observations recorded. The surviving tablets range in date from the mid-7th to the 1st century
Diaries usually cover periods of four to six months, divided into monthly sections. Daily astronomical observations form the bulk of each section. At the end of each month, the Diaries report the river level of the Euphrates; the market exchange values of several commodities in Babylon, and sometimes selected historical events such as warfare, disease outbreaks, visits from kings or officials, and cultic activities. The Diaries contain no explicit indications of purpose, but since they exhibit significant parallelism with prognostic material, it is likely that they were connected to some extent with divination. There are also parallels in content and phrasing between the Diaries and the Late Babylonian Chronicles.
Article
pain
Candida R. Moss
Article
mathematics, Egyptian (relations to Greek)
Annette Imhausen
In the history of mathematics, differences between ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek mathematics have been emphasized while their parallels have often been overlooked. While the source material of the earliest Greek mathematical texts is probably too scarce to trace its beginnings, a comparison of extant Egyptian and Greek sources reveals not only differences but also similarities. It is noteworthy in this respect that specific links to Egyptian and also Mesopotamian mathematical sources can be drawn, which indicates that the mathematical knowledge of both cultures served as the basis for the evolution of Greek mathematics. Instead of contrasting Greek mathematics with its Egyptian predecessors, our understanding of ancient Greek mathematics and its development might benefit from studying the transmission and common features of these mathematical cultures.
Mathematicians often consider ancient Greece as the birthplace of their subject. Names like Pythagoras or Euclid are still used in modern mathematics in the designation of theorems (Pythagorean theorem) or areas (Euclidean geometry), establishing a link between modern mathematics and its supposed origin in ancient Greece.
Article
numerical notation
Stephen Chrisomalis
Numerical notations—graphic, largely non-phonetic notations for expressing numerical values—are central aspects of most written traditions of classical antiquity, as they are with most literate societies. The Minoan and Mycenean numerals appear to derive from an Egyptian antecedent. Roman numerals, Etruscan numerals, and Greek acrophonic numerals derive from a Greco-Italic abstract system based on tallying, using a mixed base of 5 and 10. Finally, the Greek alphabetic numerals, unrelated to any of these other traditions and probably deriving from Egyptian demotic practices, use the principle of alphabetic order to create a system in which signs are not repeated. None of these numeral systems were often used directly for mathematics, and because ancient societies had a variety of non-written arithmetical techniques, their utility was principally representational and mnemonic, not computational. All of these systems have been stigmatized unfairly in modern scholarship as holding back mathematical achievement in antiquity in comparison to positional systems commonly used in the 21st century, although the Greek alphabetic and Roman numerals were both used for thousands of years across a range of media and functions.
Article
zooarchaeology
Michael MacKinnon
Zooarchaeology/archaeozoology focuses on the investigation of animals in the past through analysis of recovered faunal remains, largely teeth and bones, from archaeological sites. As such zooarchaeological analyses can disclose much about the animals themselves, the environmental and ecological parameters in which they existed, as well as the cultures that kept, herded, controlled, hunted, manipulated, killed, ate, valued, symbolized, treated, and exploited them. The historical development of zooarchaeological study within classical archaeology showcases its expansion from earlier studies (in the 1970s and 1980s) that concentrated on reconstructing the core economic and ecological roles of animals in antiquity to its current state, which emphasizes more diversified, multidimensional investigations of animals across all spectra and components of ancient life. Key topics of interest in the discipline include ancient husbandry operations; the interaction between animals and ecological settings; the input of meat and other animal foodstuffs in ancient diets; the exploitation of non-consumable animal products, such as bones, hides, and wool in antiquity; breeding regimes and their effects on animals during Greek and Roman times; and the roles and characteristics of work, pet, and sacrificial animals in the past.
