of the moon's disk for every day from new to full moon, the whole disk being assumed to consist of 240 parts. The illuminated parts during the first five days are the series 5, 10, 20, 40, 1.20, which is a geometrical progression, on the assumption that the last number is 80. From here on the series becomes arithmetical, 1.20, 1.36, 1.52, 2.8, 2.24, 2.40, 2.56, 3.12, 3.28, 3.44, 4, the common difference being 16. The last number is written in the tablet đ», and, according to Hincks's interpretation, stood for 4Ă60=240.
Fig. 1.âBabylonian tablets from Nippur, about 2400 B.C.
5. Hincks's explanation was confirmed by the decipherment of tablets found at Senkereh, near Babylon, in 1854, and called the Tablets of Senkereh. One tablet was found to contain a table of square numbers, from 12 to 602, a second one a table of cube numbers from 13 to 323. The tablets were probably written between 2300 and 1600 B.C. Various scholars contributed toward their interpretation. Among them were George Smith (1872), J. Oppert, Sir H. Rawlinson, Fr. Lenormant, and finally R. Lepsius.[1] The numbers 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36,
- â George Smith, North British Review (July, 1870), p. 332 n.; J. Oppert, Journal asiatique (August-September, 1872; October-November, 1874); J. Oppert, Ătalon des mesures assyr. fixĂ© par les textes cunĂ©iformes (Paris, 1874); Sir H. Rawlinson and G. Smith, "The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," Vol. IV: A Selection from the Miscellaneous Inscriptions of Assyria (London, 1875), Plate 40; R. Lepsius, "Die Babylonisch-Assyrischen LĂ€ngenmaasse nach der Tafel von Senkereh," Abhandlungen der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (aus dem Jahre 1877 [Berlin, 1878], Philosophisch-historische Klasse), p. 105-44.
