Egyptian Times

1
Egyptian Times
Records of Egyptian mathematics date back to
around 2700 BC, though it wasnt a language we
might recognise. Despite a lack of measuring or
building equipment the Egyptians mastered
building hugely precise Pyramids, aligning them
to the stars.
2
Egyptian Numerals
Like us, the Egyptians counting up in 10s. They
used the following hieroglyphs
A papyrus leaf represented the number 1
bent-over papyrus leaf represented 10 a coiled
rope represented 100 and the sacred lotus flower
represented 1,000 (Egyptians believed that a god
who appeared from a lotus created the world).
Animals represented the larger Egyptian numbers
a snake or finger represented 10,000, and a
tadpole was the symbol for 100,000. A figure of a
scribe represented the number 1 million
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Forming Egyptian Numbers

• Try writing out 234 in Egyptian

Did you get it right? Notice The Egyptians
wrote from right to left.
4
Write 2018 in Egyptian numbers.

• What do you notice?

Theres no need for a zero!!!!!
In fact, like many ancient civilisations the
Egyptians didnt actually have a symbol for zero!
5
Try writing out the following numbers in Egyptian
213240
50029
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What do the following hieroglyphs show?
214036
1020431
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Lets try some Egyptian puzzles
Queen Hatshepsut is building her mortuary temple
beneath the cliffs at Deir el Bahari on the west
bank of the Nile. The temple comprises
layered terraces, each half the height of the one
before. If the total height of the temple is
around feet then what are the heights of the
terraces?
14 feet 28 feet 56 feet
Egyptian problem solving worksheet
8
Egyptian Mathematical Methods

• Working with only 2 times tables.....

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Egyptian Mathematicians

• The Ancient Egyptians only worked with 2 times
  tables- which do you think they used?

Two
Hence they could double and half
Ten
They could multiply and divide by 10
However- combining these two- what other times
tables can you access?
10
By combining the 10 and 2 times table how would
you do.....
Times 10 (x10) then halve (2)
Double twice (x2 then x2)
Times 10 (x10) then double (x2)
(1) Times 10 (x10) then halve (2) (2) Times 2
(x2) then add two steps together
(1) Times 10 (x10) then halve (2) (2) Take 1
then add two steps together
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Egyptian Mathematics

• Multiplying relied upon doubling or multiplying
  by tens.

Example 12 x 9 4 x 9 36 8 x 9 72
108
To multiply by 12 double twice x4
double 3 time x8 add together
To multiply by 16 use multiples of 10 and
related facts 16 x 16
1 x 16 16 10 x 16 160 5 x 16 80
256
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Consider the following multiplications
Remember- you can only add , subtract, double,
half, multiply and divide by 10
13 x 16
22 x 7
19 x 19
Double once (x2) Double twice (x4) Double three
times (x 8) Double four times (x16) So 13 x 2 x
2 x 2 x 2 208
Multiply 7 by 10 70 Double answer (x20)
140 Double 7 (x2) 14 So 140 14 154
Multiply 19 x 10 (x10) 190 Double answer (x20)
380 Subtract 1 x 19 So 380 19 361
Hint 16 is a power of 2
There may be more than one way of doing the
problem!
13
Calculate the following. Remember to think like
an Egyptian!
20 x 18
32 x 17
17 x 18
360
544
306
21 x 41
14 x 28
13 x 9
861
392
117
6 x 32
35 x 5
3 x 51
192
175
153
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Investigations
1) Using Egyptian methods, how many different
ways can you identify to find the product of 26 x
19?
2) Using Egyptian methods, what is the minimum
number of steps needed to multiply by 156?