The Rhind Papyrus presents such a problem.
Rhind papyrus definition how to#
A conservator has to work out how to make the object available to the public while keeping it in a safe and stable environment.
Tombs especially have protected the documents by acting as a kind of ‘buffer’ against the fluctuations of temperature and the relative humidity outside, even if they could not protect them from insects or tomb robbers.ĭespite their remarkable durability, today many of these ancient documents are very fragile. When dry this made a sheet on which to write.Īlso the dry climate in Egypt and the tradition of placing papyri in tombs helped to preserve them. A layer of horizontal strips was laid on top of a layer of vertical ones and the two layers were bonded together by pressing. It was made from strips of pith from inside the papyrus plant. There are several reasons why papyrus documents have survived so well.įirstly, the way papyrus ‘paper’ was made was relatively simple which helped retain the purity of the plant material. A remarkably large number of papyri from antiquity have survived, including the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus which is almost 4,000 years old. Papyrus was used to write on in ancient Egypt and was used until the eighth century AD when it was replaced by the paper we are familiar with today. Higher maths, such as deductive reasoning and logic, developed in Greece from 500 BC onwards.Īs well as paper, ancient Egyptians used papyrus to make boats and mattresses Mathematics also developed in Mesopotamia, including the system of dividing time into units of 60 that is still used today for minutes and seconds. However, very little evidence of complex Egyptian mathematics survives. The Egyptians were renowned by the Greeks as masters of geometry. Papyrus documents are made from the papyrus reed, which is common in the Nile valley but relatively expensive.Ĭomplex societies like Egypt required maths to create buildings, manage food supplies and compute the flood levels of the Nile. This papyrus was placed in its owner's tomb as a sign of his highly educated status. Such skills were constantly needed by scribes - the administrators of the Egyptian society. It contains 84 different mathematical problems - such as how to distribute 100 loaves of bread among a workforce in different ratios.
This is the most famous mathematical papyrus to have survived from Ancient Egypt.
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