MARKET RATE ALGORITHM

MS 2832
MS Short Title MARKET RATE ALGORITHM
Text SOLUTION ALGORITHM FOR A COMBINED MARKET RATE EXERCISE, BY LETTING THE MARKET RATES 1, 2, 3, 4 FOR A COMMODITY WITH COMBINED UNIT PRICE OF 2. 05 BE THE NUMBER OF UNITS THAT CAN BE PURCHASED FOR 1 SHEKEL OF SILVER
Description MS in Old Babylonian on clay, probably Larsa (before Babylonia), 2000-1700 BC, 1 tablet, 6,7x7,3x2,3 cm, 4 columns, 5 lines in cuneiform script.
Context This tablet is a parallel to MS 2830 (not on website display).
Commentary In a market economy before the invention of money, it was more convenient to operate with market rates. Money was not invented until 7th c. BC in Lydia in Western Asia Minor. The text can also be expressed as: To compute a number R such that 1 shekel of silver is the total price of R units of each of 4 different commodities with the individual market rates 1, 2, 3 and 4 units per shekel of silver.
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. 159-161.
Place of origin Babylonia
Dates 2000-1700 BC