June5] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. [1894.No. 47. The questionis, " If a scribe say to thee ' let me know
TV ' whether it be in a rectangular or a circular space." The last
wordsseemsuperfluous; the problem is simply to divide decimally
the hundred quadrupleheqat: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa ^
are all given. Probably this table of decimal division expressedin
the peculiar notationof the heqat was to be learnt by heart.PartII. —Measurement of Area, Geometry.
PI. XVI, No.48, PI XVII; Commentar,p. 117 and p. 118 ff.This section shows the Egyptian methods of land measure.
The^ '\ , khet, a linear measureof ico cubits, andthe ^~j set, or
square^'\,in Greek apovpa,are the principal factors.
No. 48 on PI. XVI is probably an insertion to illustrate No.50,
PI. XVI beingdevoted to stereometry. The figurerepresents a
circlewithina square, andit compares the area of a circular field
9 khet in diameter withthatof a field 9 khet square.
Thecalculationshereare full of absurd mistakes,which,if clear
evidencewerenot forthcoming from othertexts, wouldleave the
subjectof field-measurement full of uncertainties.
In No, 49 we have "Rule(?)of calculating (IhmIQ vX land:
as is said to thee a square of land, of 10 khet by 2 khet, whatis its
land? " The answershouldbe 2000 " cubits of land," i.e., strips.
100 cubits longandonecubitbroad; instead of this a sum is gone
throughwhichseemsto show thatthe scribe wasa dunce whodid
not understand the system at all. He gets puzzled, takes the
trouble to find the number of square cubits,andgives them as
100,000insteadof 200,000 ; and thendividingby 10 x 10 = ioo,
obtains 1000 instead of 2000 cubits of land. No one who under
stoodhis business wouldhavetroubledaboutthe square cubitsat all.
No. 50 (a circular field, 9 khet in diameter), on the other hand,
is quite correctlydone exceptingthatthe scribe insteadof J [ j fyj^
i.e., 6 thousands of land and 4 arouras, writesnnn[77! 60 thou
sandsof land and 4 arouras. In No. 48 he had written the result
correctly j j | Irfj
No.51. A triangular fieldR ° QA *^|QS- There
are no mistakes in this, thoughthe language usedis obscure to the
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