LABYRINTH OF SQUARE AND SYMMETRIC FORM

MS 3194
MS Short Title LABYRINTH OF SQUARE AND SYMMETRIC FORM
Text LABYRINTH OF SQUARE AND SYMMETRIC FORM WITH ENTRANCES AT THE MIDDLE OF OPPOSITE SIDES, ONLY ONE OF THEM LEADING TO THE CENTRE
Description MS in Old Babylonian on clay, Babylonia, 2000-1700 BC, 1 tablet, 11,7x10,3x2,0 cm, labyrinth of square and symmetric form.
Commentary With MSS 4515-4516 and 3195 the only known illustrations of a labyrinth from Babylonia and the world's oldest dateable labyrinth illustrations. The second oldest are 2 from ca. 13th c. BC, a fragment from a clay vessel from Tell Rifa'at, Syria (Hermann Kern, Through the Labyrinth, no. 102), and a linear B tablet from Pylos (Kern nos. 103-104).
Published Jöran Friberg: A remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts. Springer 2007. Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection, vol. 6, Cuneiform Texts I. pp. 224-227.
Place of origin Babylonia
Dates 2000-1700 BC