ABSTRACT
The mathematical requirements for even the most developed economic structures of antiquity can be satisfied with elementary household arithmetic which no mathematician would call mathematics. The Papyrus Rhind is our only document for the study of Egyptian arithmetic. The other large text, the Moscow papyrus, agrees with rules known from the Papyrus Rhind. A vivid description of the main topics of Egyptian mathematics is given in a papyrus of the New Kingdom, written for school purposes. It is a satirical letter in which an official ridicules a colleague. The excellent protection which desert and sea provide for the Nile valley prevented the excessive development of the spirit of heroism which must often have made life in Greece hell on earth.
