Mathematics and Justice in ancient Egypt
Status: This talk is in preparation - details may change
Status: This talk has been cancelled
A joint History of Mathematics/Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Seminar
In the hieratic Egyptian mathematical texts, which are extant from the periods of the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period, the verb form sDm.xr.f has its most numerous attestations. This verb form has been recognized to express a necessary consequence from a previously stated situation, e.g. in indicating the result of a previously stated arithmetic operation. Therefore one might expect this form to be similarly (frequently) used in Egyptian laws to express the consequences of wrongdoing. Only few collections of laws from pharaonic times are extant, of which the earliest are the Great Edict of Haremhab and the Nauri Decree of Sethos I. both from the beginning of the Ramesside Period. These sources, however, show no use of this form. In this respect then, the Egyptian concept of rational practice is different from its Mesopotamian neighbour, where a connection between mathematical and legal procedure texts has been shown by Jim Ritter based on their verbal structure. Using examples from several Egyptian genres of texts, I would like to document that in ancient Egypt, too, this relation existed, and explore how it was expressed.
Date: 28 April 2020, 14:30 (Tuesday, 1st week, Trinity 2020)
Venue: Mathematical Institute, Woodstock Road OX2 6GG
Venue Details: C1
Speaker: Annette Imhausen (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)
Organising department: Mathematical Institute
Organisers: Ann-Katrin Gill (University of Oxford), Christopher Hollings (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: christopher.hollings@maths.ox.ac.uk
Host: Christopher Hollings (University of Oxford)
Part of: History of Mathematics Seminar
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Christopher Hollings