Ecrire et compter chez les marchands assyriens du début du IIe millénaire av. J.-C.

摘要

Based on a concise description of the commercial life of the Old Assyrian merchants and their centre, the "House of the karum" in Kanis, it is suggested that the merchants must have been able to perform a considerable degree of mathematical calculating. A brief sketch of the process of attending a scribal school in ancient Mesopotamia and the existence and nature of school tablets is followed by a broader look at the corresponding Old Assyrian material (school texts, literature, etc.). Texts that are obviously calculating exercises are studied in detail, and the question of the existence of a calculating machine is raised.