Mathematical Tablets

Abstract

Chapter 4 represents the most important part of the book. In it, the 12 selected tablets are presented and analysed. Each tablet receives initially a transliteration and a transcription: • A transliteration of the cuneiform signs identifies the signs by their conventional names and tries to respect their isolated pronunciation.• A transcription renders morphological and syntactical aspects of the original text (see also Chap. 3 for the details and conventions governing each of these parts). The tablets are then translated and commented. The only exception is IM54010, whose bad state of conservation prevents a complete understanding. Transliteration and transcription are directed to specialists in cuneiform mathematics or to readers who possess at least a basic command of the Akkadian and a desire to improve their understanding of the original texts. Translation and commentary, on the other hand, were designed to satisfy the readers’ appetite for the mathematical ideas and techniques that these texts bear. Besides, in this chapter, I also offer some philological remarks and a mathematical analysis for each tablet.