Moscow Mathematical Papyrus
Egyptian mathematicians could calculate the volume of a truncated pyramid correctly, a result presented as a worked recipe rather than a proven general formula.
- a correct volume formula for a truncated pyramid
- results given as procedure rather than proof
- shorter and more damaged than the Rhind papyrus
- held at the Pushkin Museum, Moscow
A Thirteenth Dynasty copy of Twelfth Dynasty material, containing 25 worked problems, shorter and less well preserved than the Rhind papyrus but mathematically more striking for problem 14, which gives the correct method for finding the volume of a frustum, or truncated pyramid, the most advanced surviving result in Egyptian geometry. Purchased by Vladimir Golenishchev in the nineteenth century, likely near Thebes, it is now held at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
Commentary
Readers' notes on this work. No account needed - be scholarly, or at least civil.
Loading commentary…