Editing Mesopotamia (section)

==Science and technology==

===Mathematics===
{{Main|Babylonian mathematics}}

[[File:Clay tablet, mathematical, geometric-algebraic, similar to the Euclidean geometry. From Tell Harmal, Iraq. 2003-1595 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg|thumb|A [[clay tablet]], mathematical, geometric-algebraic, similar to the Euclidean geometry. From [[Shaduppum]] Iraq. 2003–1595 BC. [[Iraq Museum]].]]
Mesopotamian mathematics and science was based on a [[sexagesimal]] (base 60) [[numeral system]]. This is the source of the 60-minute hour, the 24-hour day, and the 360-[[degree (angle)|degree]] circle. The [[Sumerian calendar]] was lunisolar, with three seven-day weeks of a lunar month. This form of mathematics was instrumental in early [[History of cartography|map-making]]. The Babylonians also had theorems on how to measure the area of  shapes and solids. They measured the circumference of a circle as three times the diameter and the area as one-twelfth the square of the circumference, which would be correct if {{pi}} were fixed at 3.<ref name="Holt, Rinehart and Winston">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi00eves_0 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi00eves_0/page/31 31] |title=An Introduction to the History of Mathematics |publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston |last1=Eves |first1=Howard |year=1969 |isbn=9780030745508 }}</ref>

The volume of a cylinder was taken as the product of the area of the base and the height; however, the volume of the [[frustum]] of a cone or a [[square pyramid]] was incorrectly taken as the product of the height and half the sum of the bases. Also, there was a recent discovery in which a tablet used {{pi}} as 25/8 (3.125 instead of 3.14159~). The Babylonians are also known for the Babylonian mile, which was a measure of distance equal to about seven modern miles (11&nbsp;km). This measurement for distances eventually was converted to a time-mile used for measuring the travel of the Sun, therefore, representing time.<ref name="Holt, Rinehart and Winston"/>

==== Algebra ====
{{Main|Algebra|Square root of 2}}
The roots of algebra can be traced to the ancient Babylonia<ref>{{cite book |last=Struik |first=Dirk J. |url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof0000stru_m6j1 |title=A Concise History of Mathematics |publisher=Dover Publications |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-486-60255-4 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref> who developed an advanced arithmetical system with which they were able to do calculations in an [[algorithm]]ic fashion.

The [[Babylonia]]n clay tablet [[YBC 7289]] ({{circa|1800}}–1600 BC) gives an approximation of {{math|{{sqrt|2}}}} in four [[sexagesimal]] figures, {{nowrap|1 24 51 10}}, which is accurate to about six [[decimal]] digits,<ref>Fowler and Robson, p. 368. [http://it.stlawu.edu/%7Edmelvill/mesomath/tablets/YBC7289.html Photograph, illustration, and description of the ''root(2)'' tablet from the Yale Babylonian Collection]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813054036/http://it.stlawu.edu/%7Edmelvill/mesomath/tablets/YBC7289.html|date=2012-08-13}}. [http://www.math.ubc.ca/%7Ecass/Euclid/ybc/ybc.html High resolution photographs, descriptions, and analysis of the ''root(2)'' tablet (YBC 7289) from the Yale Babylonian Collection]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712173830/http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/ybc/ybc.html|date=12 July 2020}}.</ref> and is the closest possible three-place sexagesimal representation of {{math|{{sqrt|2}}}}:

: <math>1 + \frac{24}{60} + \frac{51}{60^2} + \frac{10}{60^3} = \frac{305470}{216000} = 1.41421\overline{296}.</math>

The Babylonians were not interested in exact solutions, but rather approximations, and so they would commonly use [[linear interpolation]] to approximate intermediate values.<ref name="Boyer Babylon p30">{{Harvnb|Boyer|1991|loc="Mesopotamia" p. 30}}: "Babylonian mathematicians did not hesitate to interpolate by proportional parts to approximate intermediate values. Linear interpolation seems to have been a commonplace procedure in ancient Mesopotamia, and the positional notation lent itself conveniently to the rile of three. [...] a table essential in Babylonian algebra; this subject reached a considerably higher level in Mesopotamia than in Egypt. Many problem texts from the Old Babylonian period show that the solution of the complete three-term quadratic equation afforded the Babylonians no serious difficulty, for flexible algebraic operations had been developed. They could transpose terms in equations by adding equals to equals, and they could [[Multiplication|multiply]] both sides by like quantities to remove [[fraction]]s or to eliminate factors. By adding <math>4ab</math> to <math>(a - b)^2</math> they could obtain <math>(a + b)^2</math> for they were familiar with many simple forms of factoring. [...]Egyptian algebra had been much concerned with linear equations, but the Babylonians evidently found these too elementary for much attention. [...] In another problem in an Old Babylonian text we find two simultaneous linear equations in two unknown quantities, called respectively the "first silver ring" and the "second silver ring.""</ref> One of the most famous tablets is the [[Plimpton 322|Plimpton 322 tablet]], created around 1900–1600&nbsp;BC, which gives a table of [[Pythagorean triples]] and represents some of the most advanced mathematics prior to Greek mathematics.<ref>{{cite web|author=Joyce, David E. |year=1995 |title=Plimpton 322 |url=http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/plimpnote.html |quote=The clay tablet with the catalog number 322 in the G. A. Plimpton Collection at Columbia University may be the most well known mathematical tablet, certainly the most photographed one, but it deserves even greater renown. It was scribed in the Old Babylonian period between −1900 and −1600 and shows the most advanced mathematics before the development of Greek mathematics. |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308060531/http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/plimpnote.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Astronomy===
{{Main|Babylonian astronomy}}
From [[Sumer]]ian times, temple priesthoods had attempted to associate current events with certain positions of the planets and stars. This continued to Assyrian times, when [[Limmu]] lists were created as a year by year association of events with planetary positions, which, when they have survived to the present day, allow accurate associations of relative with absolute dating for establishing the history of Mesopotamia.

The Babylonian astronomers were very adept at mathematics and could predict [[Eclipse cycle|eclipses]] and [[Solstice#Solstice determination|solstices]]. Scholars thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12-month calendar based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of astronomy as well as astrology date from this time.

During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian astronomers developed a new approach to astronomy. They began studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the early [[universe]] and began employing an internal logic within their predictive planetary systems. This was an important contribution to astronomy and the [[philosophy of science]] and some scholars have thus referred to this new approach as the first scientific revolution.<ref name=Brown>D. Brown (2000), ''Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology'', Styx Publications, {{ISBN|90-5693-036-2}}.</ref> This new approach to astronomy was adopted and further developed in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy.

In [[Seleucid]] and [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] times, the astronomical reports were thoroughly scientific. How much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is considered to be a major episode in the [[Assyrian astronomy|history of astronomy]].

The only Greek-Babylonian astronomer known to have supported a [[heliocentrism|heliocentric]] model of planetary motion was [[Seleucus of Seleucia]] (b. 190 BC).<ref>[[Otto E. Neugebauer]] (1945). "The History of Ancient Astronomy Problems and Methods", ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' '''4''' (1), pp. 1–38.</ref><ref>[[George Sarton]] (1955). "Chaldaean Astronomy of the Last Three Centuries B.C.", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' '''75''' (3), pp. 166–173 [169].</ref><ref>William P. D. Wightman (1951, 1953), ''The Growth of Scientific Ideas'', Yale University Press, p. 38.</ref> Seleucus is known from the writings of [[Plutarch]]. He supported Aristarchus of Samos' heliocentric theory where the [[Earth's rotation|Earth rotated]] around its own axis which in turn revolved around the [[Sun]]. According to [[Plutarch]], Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system, but it is not known what arguments he used, except that he correctly theorized on tides as a result of the Moon's attraction.

Babylonian astronomy served as the basis for much of [[Ancient Greek astronomy|Greek]], [[Indian astronomy|classical Indian]], Sassanian, [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], [[Syria]]n, [[Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic]], [[Central Asia]]n, and [[Western Europe]]an astronomy.<ref name="dp1998">{{Harvtxt|Pingree|1998}}.</ref>

===Medicine===
[[File:Medical recipe concerning poisoning. Terracotta tablet, from Nippur, Iraq, 18th century BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul.jpg|thumb|A medical recipe concerning poisoning. Terracotta tablet, from [[Nippur]], [[Iraq]].]]
The oldest Babylonian texts on [[medicine]] date back to the [[First Babylonian dynasty|Old Babylonian]] period in the first half of the [[2nd millennium BC]]. The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the ''Diagnostic Handbook'' written by the ''ummânū'', or chief scholar, [[Esagil-kin-apli]] of [[Borsippa]],<ref name=Stol-99/> during the reign of the Babylonian king [[Adad-apla-iddina]] (1069–1046 BC).{{sfn|Stol|1993|p=55}}

Along with contemporary [[ancient Egyptian medicine|Egyptian medicine]], the Babylonians introduced the concepts of [[medical diagnosis|diagnosis]], [[prognosis]], [[physical examination]], [[enema]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |title=The History of the Enema with Some Notes on Related Procedures (Part I) |journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=77 |date=January 1940 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |last1=Friedenwald |first1=Julius |last2=Morrison |first2=Samuel |jstor = 44442727}}</ref> and [[Medical prescription|prescriptions]]. The ''Diagnostic Handbook'' introduced the methods of [[therapy]] and [[aetiology]] and the use of [[empiricism]], [[logic]], and [[rationality]] in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. The text contains a list of medical [[symptom]]s and often detailed empirical [[observation]]s along with logical rules used in combining observed symptoms on the body of a [[patient]] with its diagnosis and prognosis.<ref>H. F. J. Horstmanshoff, Marten Stol, Cornelis Tilburg (2004), ''Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine'', pp. 97–98, [[Brill Publishers]], {{ISBN|90-04-13666-5}}.</ref>

The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated through therapeutic means such as [[bandage]]s, [[cream (pharmaceutical)|creams]] and [[pill (pharmacy)|pills]]. If a patient could not be cured physically, the Babylonian physicians often relied on [[exorcism]] to cleanse the patient from any [[curse]]s. Esagil-kin-apli's ''Diagnostic Handbook'' was based on a logical set of [[axiom]]s and assumptions, including the modern view that through the examination and [[inspection]] of the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine the patient's [[disease]], its aetiology, its future development, and the chances of the patient's recovery.<ref name="Stol-99">H. F. J. Horstmanshoff, Marten Stol, Cornelis Tilburg (2004), ''Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine'', p. 99, [[Brill Publishers]], {{ISBN|90-04-13666-5}}.</ref>

Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of [[illness]]es and diseases and described their symptoms in his ''Diagnostic Handbook''. These include the symptoms for many varieties of [[epilepsy]] and related [[ailment]]s along with their diagnosis and prognosis.{{sfn|Stol|1993|p=5}} Some treatments used were likely based off the known characteristics of the ingredients used. The others were based on the symbolic qualities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Teall |first1=Emily |title=Medicine and Doctoring in Ancient Mesopotamia |journal=Grand Valley Journal of History |date=October 2014 |volume=3 |issue=1 |page=3 |url=https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=gvjh}}</ref>

===Technology===
Mesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper-working, glass and lamp making, textile weaving, [[flood control]], water storage, and irrigation. They were also one of the first [[Bronze Age]] societies in the world. They developed from copper, bronze, and gold on to iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and [[mace (bludgeon)|maces]].

According to a recent hypothesis, the [[Archimedes' screw]] may have been used by Sennacherib, King of Assyria, for the water systems at the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] and [[Nineveh]] in the 7th century BC, although mainstream scholarship holds it to be a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] invention of later times.<ref>Stephanie Dalley and [[John Peter Oleson]] (January 2003). "Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World", ''Technology and Culture'' '''44''' (1).</ref> Later, during the Parthian or Sasanian periods, the [[Baghdad Battery]], which may have been the world's first battery, was created in Mesopotamia.<ref name="BBC2">{{Citation |last=Twist |first=Jo |title=Open media to connect communities |date=20 November 2005 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4450052.stm |access-date=6 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517132329/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4450052.stm |archive-date=17 May 2019 |url-status=live}}.</ref>