Scientists say: "The table contains not only the oldest trigonometric record in the world, it is also the only accurate trigonometric explanation because the Babylonian approach to arithmetic and geometry is very different from ours. This means it is very important for our modern world. "

The old Babylonians, who inhabited contemporary Iraq since 4000 BC, were considered one of the most advanced ancient societies ever living on Earth. We probably did not know how advanced they were before we found the first table that clearly shows how the Babylonians overcame the ancient Greeks at least by 1000 years in mastering trigonometry.

Australian scientists believe that they finally decoded the inscriptions on 3 700 of the old Babylonian chart, referred to as Plimpton 322. It is relatively well preserved, only the left edge of the table is broken. The message written on the clay table demonstrates and confirms that the ancient Babylonians have known at least a thousand years before the ancient tribes of the Trigonometry (study of triangles) and show sophisticated ancient mathematical knowledge that has remained hidden to us.

It is believed that this small table originated from the ancient Sumerian town of Lars and was discovered at the beginning of 20. century archaeologist, academician, diplomat and antique businessman Edgar Banks, a person who created a fictional character of Indiana Jones. At present, the Babylonian table is preserved in Columbia University's rare books and manuscripts library in New York.

The table contains numerous characters written on the surface in an old cuneiform, four-column, and 15-series of numbers that are in the original sixty position position instead of the decimal system we use today. The numbers describe the 15 sequence of rectangular triangles in which one weave stays and the second one is the same and then gradually decreases in 14 steps. This gradually reduces the angle between the switch and the unmovable hanging.

In addition, scientists say that the Plimpton 322 table originally had six columns and probably had to consist of 38 rows of clue-like characters. It is a fascinating mathematical work that undoubtedly shows the genius of the creator. A new study, written by Dr. Mansfield and Professor Norman Wildberger, is published in the official journal of the International Commission on Mathematics History - Historia Mathematica (ICHM).

By studying Babylonian mathematics and exploring various possible historical interpretations of the Babylonian Table, there is one "widely accepted" theory that the table was intended to assist the teacher in controlling the solution of quadratic problems.

However, Mansfield and Wildberger believe that the table can be considered an old calculator for a system of trigonometric equations.

Translator's Note - Babylonian Mathematics

At present, several hundred tables with mathematical texts have been translated. Unlike the Greeks, who preferred the geometric solution of problems, the Babylonians preferred the algebraic solution - numerical calculations. Unlike our decimal system, they used a sixty position system. (The basis of the decimal system is 10, the hexadecimal 60 *.) The advantage of this system is that 60 has 12 divisors, so many fractions are simple, which facilitates, for example, the shortening of fractions.

We still use this system to measure time and angles. (The hour has 60 minutes, the circle is divided into 360 degrees.) We also have a quantity of a dozen '= 12 = 60 / 5 and kick = 60.

The disadvantage of this system is that it has characters for 60 digits, the advantage is the writing of large numbers fewer characters than in the decimal or binary system. One can only deduce that this foundation was chosen because we took it over from the aliens, or because the year once lasted 360 days on Earth. Other theories say that the aliens had 6 toes on their hands and feet. They had just a dozen fingers on their hands…

The Indian Vedas mention a calendar where the year was 360 days and divided into 12 months of 30 days. According to Velikovsky's book "Worlds in Collision", the year has been extended by 5 to 360 days after the ancient cosmic collision. The ancient Persian, Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian years also had 360 days. The Mayans also had a year of 5 days, to which they added XNUMX days considered "unfortunate." **

From this it can be concluded that the year of 360 days was once valid all over the world and at about the same time 5 days were added and every 4 years another sixth day in order to comply with the astronomical data.

Remarker comment

*) Like the decimal system, it does not have a decimal character (it consists of two 1 and 0 characters), and the Babylon positioning system did not have a sixty character (also called 10, as in the binary system 10 means two - one). The highest single digit was their 59. Sixty of them were including zero.

**) Even today's banking year ignores those 5 and ¼ days and basically copies the Vedic one.