A Simulation-Based View on Mesopotamian Computational Practices

Abstract

It is argued that iterative computations which are attested inMesopotamian and other ancient sources can be productivelyanalyzed and interpreted in a simulation-based framework. AncientMesopotamia presents us with a rich body of textual evidence forcomputational practices over a period of more than three millennia.This paper is concerned with Mesopotamian iterative computationsof empirical phenomena, where each iteration updates the valuesof certain quantities from one state to the next state. It will beargued that these computations can be fruitfully interpreted in theso-called simulation-based framework, which was recently developedby philosophers of science in order to better account for the roleof simulations in modern science. This is exemplified on the basisof a text from the Ur III period (2100–2000 BCE) about thegrowth of a cow herd. Other Mesopotamian sources with iterativelycomputed sequences, in particular various types of mathematicaltables, are ignored here, because they do not directly correspondto any phenomena. Section 1 briefly addresses some developments inthe philosophy and historiography of science in order to introduce thesimulation-based framework. Section 2 discusses the textual example.Section 3 contains the conclusions.