Babylonians and Chaldeans observed the motion of the stars and planets from the earliest antiquity s

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Region dominated by the Babylonian civilization.
Example of a cuneiform tablet between 1900 and
1600 BC containing Pythagorean triples.
Babylonians and Chaldeans observed the motion of
the stars and planets from the earliest antiquity
(since the middle of the 23rd century B.C.). They
cataloged the motion of the stars and planets as
well as the occurrence of eclipses and attempted
to fit their behavior to some numerical theories.
Many of these observations were used for
astrological prophesying and, in fact, they were
the originators of astrology. They believed that
the motions and changes in the stars and planets
determine (or so they believed) what occurs on
this planet. The Babylonians excelled in
computational mathematics (base 60), they were
able to solve algebraic equations of the first
degree, understood the concept of function and
realized the truth of Pythagoras' theorem
(without furnishing an abstract proof). One of
the clay tablets dated from between 1900 and 1600
B.C. contains answers to a problem containing
Pythagorean triples, i.e. numbers a , b, c with
a2 b2 c2. It is said to be the oldest number
theory document in existence. The Babylonians had
an advanced number system with base 60 rather
than the base 10 of common today. The Babylonians
divided the day into 24 hours, each hour into 60
minutes, each minute into 60 seconds. This form
of counting has survived for 40 centuries.
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Egyptians
An example of Egyptian papyri, the Moscow papyrus
and its translation the text contains the
estimate 256/813.1605
The study of the heavens was not made for
altruistic purposes but with very practical aims
a good calendar was necessary in order to prepare
for the regular flooding of the Nile as well as
for religious purposes. The Egyptian calendar had
a year of precisely 365 days and was used for
many centuries. Egyptians knew and used the water
clock whose origin is lost in the mists of time.
Most of Egyptian mathematics was aimed at
practical calculations such as measuring the
Earth (important as the periodic Nile
floods erased property boundary marks) and
business mathematics. 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
objects when a number was mentioned.
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To quantify science and technology, it is
important to have convenient ways to carry out
the necessary arithmetical procedures. The
Egyptians were only concerned with practical
arithmetic. Their numbers were unsuitable for
multiplication. The Rhind papyrus shows how the
Egyptians carried out multiplication despite the
difficulties in their numerical notation.
The Rhind papyrus The Scottish Egyptologist,
Henry Rhind, purchased the Rhind papyrus in Luxor
in 1858. The papyrus scroll is approximately
about 1/3 of a meter wide and 6 meters long. It
was written around 1650 BC by the scribe Ahmes
who is copying a document which is 200 years
older. So the original papyrus dates from about
1850BC.
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Pottery Glass
Metal mining extraction
Metal working
The two temples at Abu Simbel, of Ramesses II,
are primarily dedicated to Re-Harakhte, and that
of his wife, Nefertari dedicated to Hathor,
One of the oldest in history the ancient Egyptian
civilization, emerges from pre-history into the
period of more or less precise chronological
record up to a date perhaps not far removed from
3400 B.C. This highly developed but in many
respects static civilization lasted for over 3000
years, during which it spread its influence far
and wide. Some archaeologists, indeed, claim to
see in all other civilizations signs of an
Egyptian origin. It is universally agreed,
however, that in technical arts Egyptian workers
pointed the way to the rest of the world, and it
is to them that all must turn for the first
discovery of those facts that made science
possible.
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To build these structures took a tremendous
technical expertise, most of which is not known
today. Probably the building engineering of the
Greeks took much of this knowledge over.
The Great Sphinx is to the northeast of
Chephren's Valley Temple. Where it sits was once
a quarry. Chephren's workers shaped the stone
into the lion and gave it their king's face over
4,500 years ago. The sphinx faces the rising sun.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu). Herodotus
said that it would have taken 30 years and
100,000 slaves to have built it. This pyramid is
thought to have been built between 2589 - 2566
BC. It would have taken over 2,300,000 blocks of
stone with an average weight of 2.5 tons each.
The total weight would have been 6,000,000 tons
and a height of 482 feet (140m).
The Palace of Amenhotep III. This was the home of
Amenhotep III, his wife Tiy and his harem of 317
Hittites that he received as a dowry when he
married a Hittite princess.