Another batch of bappir, with more authentic ingredients.

In most cases, when a cuneiform text says “honey” it’s referring to date honey. So I took 16 oz of dates, pitted them, and pureed them with 16 oz of water, making a delicious and aromatic spread.…

If you live in a large swath of northern Cali you can electronically check out books from the NCDL, most of which are Protected PDF, and read them on devices such as an iPad. It’s simple, just follow these 7 easy steps

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This posting may take more explanation than usual.

Undum is a great open source hypertext (or interactive fiction, if you will) engine for creating stories that allow reader choices and unfold over time. A bit like a web-optimized Choose Your Own Adventure(tm).…

This doesn’t count as research…more like stashing a link where I can find it later. A quite remarkable graphic representation of Sumerian timekeeping. (one more browser tab freed…)-m…

The biggest pitfall in studying ancient mathematics is subconsciously superimposing anachronistic views on the ancient way of thought. For example, the Sumerians had two different concepts that would both today be called ‘addition’, and for different concepts that we would lump as multiplication.…

I found a reference to the preceding problem in the book A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts, in appendix 6 on page 405. This problem statement is referred to as tablet DPA 37. It states:

There is a curious error in DPA 37.