在古埃及,数学不仅是智力游戏,还是关系到国计民生、生死存亡的大事。“在前往圣艾夫斯的途中,我遇到了一个男人和他的七个妻子,每个妻子带着七条袋子,每条袋子里装了七只大猫,每只大猫又带着七只小猫,问:共有多少大猫,小猫,袋子和妻子前往圣艾夫斯?”这道有趣的数学题曾经被认为是古时英国人创作的题目,被称为“圣艾夫斯难题”。然而最近学者们破译了一份十分古老的埃及莎草纸文献时发现,这道数学题最初的作者应该是3600年前的古埃及人。 In ancient Egypt, math was not only a game of intelligence, but also an important event that related to national economy and people’s livelihood. On the way to St Ives, I met a man and his seven wives, each with seven bags, seven cats in each bag, and seven cats in each bag Kittens, asks: How many cats, kittens, bags and wives are going to St Ives? “This interesting math problem was once considered to be the subject of ancient British writing, known as” St Ives Difficult problem ". However, when scholars recently deciphered a very ancient Egyptian papyrus document, it was discovered that the original author of this maths question should be an ancient Egyptian 3600 years ago.