Algebraic Structure of Ancient Mesopotamian Omens

In this paper, it is shown that we can reconstruct an intuition of Boolean algebra in Mesopotamian divination with different omen series organized as catalogues. Each separate omen was formulated as a conditional statement “if a sign p, then an event q” so that it has only the positive truth value i...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Folklore (Tartu, Estonia) Estonia), 2024-01, Vol.93 (93), p.63-78
Hauptverfasser: Schumann, Andrew, Sazonov, Vladimir, Töyräänvuori, Joanna
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:In this paper, it is shown that we can reconstruct an intuition of Boolean algebra in Mesopotamian divination with different omen series organized as catalogues. Each separate omen was formulated as a conditional statement “if a sign p, then an event q” so that it has only the positive truth value in the Boolean algebra. This means that omen catalogues can be considered as a dataset containing some logical axioms (only true propositions). It is the earliest form of binary thinking which was logically correct.
ISSN:1406-0957
1406-0949
DOI:10.7592/FEJF2024.93.omen