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Ancient Egyptians

Mathematics from 3000 BC	There is not much in the way of recorded information about Egyptian mathematics, and what little we know is down to writings on papyrus. You can see an example of Egyptian mathematics: The Rhind papyrus. The papyrus, a scroll about 6 metres long and 1/3 of a metre wide, was written around 1650 BC by the scribe Ahmes who is copying a document which is 200 years older. This makes the original papyrus date from about 1850BC.
	Unlike the Greeks who thought abstractly about mathematical ideas, the Egyptians were only concerned with practical arithmetic. In fact the Egyptians probably did not think of numbers as abstract quantities but always thought of a specific collection of 8 objects when 8 was mentioned. Egyptian mathematics remained remarkably uniform throughout time. It was built around addition. Little theoretical contributions were evident. It was substantially practical. They saw little difference between exactness and approximation.

The Step Pyramid of King Zoser at Saqqara, Egypt, was built about 2737-2717 BC, the 3rd dynasty. It was designed by Imhotep, the first known architect in history, who was later deified by the Egyptians. The pyramid was the first monumental royal tomb and is one of the oldest stone structures in Egypt.
Built as a sequence of rectangular layers, it established a precedent for the much larger pyramids which followed. A few years later the great pyramids were built.

The pyramids at Giza in Egypt are among the most famous pieces of architecture in the world. The Pyramid of Khafre, which rises to a height of about 136 m (446 ft), was built as the final resting place of the pharaoh Khafre in about 2530 BC. Remains of the original limestone casing are visible at the top of the pyramid.

The largest pyramid is the Great Pyramid built as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu at Giza. Originally standing 147 m (481 ft) high, the pyramid was made of over 2.3 million large stone blocks (2.5 metric tons each) and stands with its sides facing due north, south, east and west.
Built using scaffolding and 1000 skilled labourers. It is not known for certain but it is widely thought that ramps were built from each of the four corners. See inclined planes

Scaffolding and pulleys

A sledge

A shaduf Egyptian farmers use shadufs to get water from the river to dry land. The bucket is dipped into the river, and the weight on the other end of the "see-saw" makes it easy to lift the water. See Levers

A knotted rope The Egyptians measure their fields with lengths of knotted rope. The size of the farmer's field is used to work out how big his harvest will be, and how much tax he should pay. See knotted rope

Links:
Pyramid puzzle
Egyptian mathematics
Babylonian and Egyptian history
Cutting granite with sand
Explore the buildings

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