A remarkable discovery emerges from history as a 3,700-year-old cay tablet from Onur Türk's blog

A remarkable discovery emerges from history as a 3,700-year-old clay tablet reveals the ancient Babylonians’ understanding of the Pythagorean theorem, predating Pythagoras by over a millennium.

Discovered in 1894 by a French archaeological expedition and now housed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, the tablet, Si.427, served as a practical tool for ancient land surveyors. It contains cuneiform instructions clarifying the construction of precise right triangles, representing humanity’s earliest documented application of geometry.

Daniel Mansfield, a mathematician from the University of New South Wales, explained the significance of Si.427’s markings, highlighting the Babylonians’ proto-trigonometric approach tailored for terrestrial measurements.

Si.427 not only delineates land boundaries but also provides insights into legal and geometric intricacies concerning divided fields. It includes sets of Pythagorean triples, like 3, 4, 5 and 8, 15, 17, used in land demarcation.

Mansfield’s prior discovery, Plimpton 322, shares a similar significance, showcasing the Babylonians’ pioneering efforts in trigonometry, crucial for property delineation during an era witnessing the rise of private land ownership.