Mathematics, Administrative and Economic Activities in Ancient Worlds (Why the Sciences of the Ancient World Matter Book 5)

This book focuses on the ancient Near East, early imperial China, South-East Asia, and medieval Europe, shedding light on mathematical knowledge and practices documented by sources relating to the administrative and economic activities of officials, merchants and other actors. It compares these to mathematical texts produced in related school contexts or reflecting the pursuit of mathematics for its own sake to reveal the diversity of mathematical practices in each of these geographical areas of the ancient world. Based on case studies from various periods and political, economic and social contexts, it explores how, in each part of the world discussed, it is possible to identify and describe the different cultures of quantification and computation as well as their points of contact. The thirteen chapters draw on a wide variety of texts from ancient Near East, China, South-East Asia and medieval Europe, which are analyzed by researchers from various fields, including mathematics, history, philology, archaeology and economics. The book will appeal to historians of science, economists and institutional historians of the ancient and medieval world, and also to Assyriologists, Indologists, Sinologists and experts on medieval Europe.--Provided by publisher Front Matter ....Pages i-vi Mathematics, Administrative and Economic Activities in Ancient Worlds: An Introduction (Cécile Michel, Karine Chemla)....Pages 1-48 Front Matter ....Pages 49-49 A Comparative Study of Prices and Wages in Royal Inscriptions, Administrative Texts and Mathematical Texts in the Old Babylonian Kingdom of Larsa (Cécile Michel, Robert Middeke-Conlin, Christine Proust)....Pages 51-80 Computation in the Arthaśāstra (Mark McClish)....Pages 81-124 Official Salaries and State Taxes as Seen in Qin-Han Manuscripts, with a Focus on Mathematical Texts (Hao Peng 彭浩)....Pages 125-155 Front Matter ....Pages 157-157 Insights into the Administration of Ancient Irrigation Systems in Third Millennium BCE Mesopotamia (Stephanie Rost)....Pages 159-200 Mathematical Computations in the Management of Public Construction Work in Mesopotamia (End of the Third and Beginning of the Second Millennium BCE) (Martin Sauvage)....Pages 201-237 The Use of Volume in the Measurement of Grain in Early Imperial China (Karine Chemla 林力娜, Biao Ma 馬彪)....Pages 239-279 Front Matter ....Pages 281-281 The Measurement of Fields During the Pre-sargonic Period (Camille Lecompte)....Pages 283-344 Early-Dynastic Tables from Southern Mesopotamia, or the Multiple Facets of the Quantification of Surfaces (Christine Proust)....Pages 345-395 Front Matter ....Pages 397-397 Computation Practices of the Assyrian Merchants During the Nineteenth Century BCE (Cécile Michel)....Pages 399-433 Connecting a Disconnect Can Evidence for a Scribal Education Be Found in a Professional Setting During the Old Babylonian Period? (Robert Middeke-Conlin)....Pages 435-462 Loans and Interest in Sanskrit Legal and Mathematical Texts (Sreeramula Rajeswara Sarma, Takanori Kusuba)....Pages 463-501 Computational Practices Around Coins and Coinage: John of Murs’ Quadripartitum Numerorum and French Money Changers’ Books (Marc Bompaire, Matthieu Husson)....Pages 503-531 Back Matter ....Pages 533-568