Book:Tablet/Plimpton 322

Tablet Plimpton $322$

Tablet Plimpton $322$ is one of the clay tablets from the Old Babylonian period.

Contents

A list of $15$ Pythagorean triples:

from $\dfrac {169} {119} = 1.42$ in the first line

then increasing by steady ratios:

to $\dfrac {106} {56} = 1.89$ in the last line.

It is apparent that the author of this tablet was familiar with the result Solutions of Pythagorean Equation.

Historical Note

Plimpton $\mathit { 322 }$ has the index number $322$ in the G.A. Plimpton Collection at Columbia University.

Plimpton $\mathit { 322 }$ is believed to have been written between $1900$ and $1600$ BCE, most likely about $1800$ BCE.

It is believed to have came from Senkereh, a site in southern Iraq corresponding to the ancient city of Larsa.

This is partly based on the style of handwriting used for its cuneiform script.

George Arthur Plimpton purchased the tablet from Edgar James Banks some time around $1922$.

He bequeathed it with the rest of his collection to Columbia University in the mid-$1930$s.

Sources

• 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $13$
• 1992: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Pythagorean Triples
• 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $13$
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Plimpton 322