Egyptian Maths, Engineering and Medicine · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

The Numbers Behind the Pyramids

History · Ancient Egypt · ages 11-13
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. About how many math problems does the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus hold?

    Answer: ______________

  2. A builder wants to check whether a tall door frame stands perfectly straight up and down. Which of these could she use as a plumb line?

    • A long wooden ruler held flat against the frame
    • A heavy metal bolt tied to the end of a piece of string
    • A rope pulled tight between two trees

  3. Who copied out the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus more than 3,500 years ago?

    • A pharaoh's chief builder
    • A scribe named Ahmes
    • A doctor writing about medicine

  4. How close to true north is the Great Pyramid aligned?

    • Within about 0.05 degrees
    • Within about 5 degrees
    • Within about 50 degrees

  5. The Rhind Papyrus has a problem where 1 loaf of bread is shared evenly among 3 people. What fraction does each person get?

    • 1/4
    • 1/3
    • 1/2

  6. A farmer plans crops on a square plot with sides 7 units long. Using the scribe's method, side times side, what is the area in square units?

    Answer: ______________

  7. An Egyptian surveyor swings his sighting line until it points straight at the North Pole. What is the name for the direction his line now faces?

    • The direction where the sun rises
    • The direction the Nile flows
    • True north

  8. A square field on the papyrus covers 36 square units. Using the scribe's method in reverse, how long is each side in units?

    Answer: ______________

  9. Mia wonders why historians treat an old scroll of math problems like the Rhind Papyrus as a treasure. What is the best answer?

    • It is made of gold, so it is worth a lot of money
    • It proves the Egyptians built pyramids with machines
    • It shows, in a scribe's own writing, the real problems Egyptians solved more than 3,500 years ago

  10. The Great Pyramid's sides point toward true north and are off by less than 0.05 degrees. What does this tiny error tell us about Egyptian surveyors?

    • They just got lucky with this one pyramid
    • They worked with great care and skill, even without modern tools
    • They secretly used modern compasses
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

The Numbers Behind the Pyramids W1-mt_PPNDO7BUrY-s1

  1. 84 · The papyrus holds about 84 problems on area, volume, and fractions.
  2. A heavy metal bolt tied to the end of a piece of string · A plumb line is a weight on a string. Gravity pulls the weight, so the string hangs in a perfect vertical, giving a straight-up line to compare the frame against.
  3. A scribe named Ahmes · A scribe named Ahmes copied the scroll of math problems. Scribes were the trained writers of ancient Egypt.
  4. Within about 0.05 degrees · Egyptian surveyors lined up the pyramid's sides so precisely that they are off from true north by less than a tenth of a degree.
  5. 1/3 · Splitting one whole into 3 equal parts gives each person 1/3, a unit fraction.
  6. 49 · 7 times 7 equals 49, the same side-times-side method Ahmes used for fields.
  7. True north · True north means the exact direction of the North Pole. A line aimed at the North Pole faces true north, the fixed direction the surveyors trusted.
  8. 6 · The method is side times side, so find the number that times itself gives 36. That number is 6.
  9. It shows, in a scribe's own writing, the real problems Egyptians solved more than 3,500 years ago · The papyrus is a direct window into Egyptian maths: about 84 real problems copied by the scribe Ahmes.
  10. They worked with great care and skill, even without modern tools · Such a tiny error is not luck. It comes from careful star watching and patient checking with tools like the plumb line.
Worksheet · LightMySky