Egyptian Architecture and Mathematics

Corinna Rossi ()
Additional contact information
Corinna Rossi: Politecnico di Milano

Chapter 39 in Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences, 2021, pp 1135-1146 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract An analysis of the relationship between mathematics and architecture in ancient Egypt requires, first of all, an analysis of the terms involved in the discussion. Mathematics, mathematicians, architecture, and architect are modern terms that convey a range of meanings that may or may not find a precise correspondence in the ancient Egyptian culture. Textual, iconographic, and archaeological sources provide a significant amount of pieces of the puzzle representing the complex task of building a monument, and yet some important aspects still remain unclear. Mathematical knowledge was deeply intertwined with the architectural practice, but defining its nature and boundaries is not easy. The extant mathematical texts are schoolbooks and cast a relatively limited light on the way in which numbers and geometrical figures were used in the planning and building process; in particular, it is difficult to establish who decided the shape and the dimensions of the buildings and of their architectural elements. The overall impression is that building a monument was a collective enterprise, carried out by a long line of individuals, the majority of whom remained anonymous.

Keywords: Ancient Egypt; Architecture; Mathematics; Scribe; Reckoning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-319-57072-3_57

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319570723

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-57072-3_57

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().