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...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Folklore (Tartu, Estonia) Estonia), 2024-01, Vol.93 (93), p.63-78 |
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Hauptverfasser: | , , |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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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. |
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ISSN: | 1406-0957 1406-0949 |
DOI: | 10.7592/FEJF2024.93.omen |