BIPH Mathematical Atlas — historical observation and cover media
Verified 2026-11-01. All 16 cases have historical media. Observe, catalogue and fixed series covers share these records. Full media relationships and limits remain in Context.

HIST-MES-001
{
  "kind": "artifact-photo",
  "path": "/history/ybc-7289-obverse-reverse.jpg",
  "alt": "Obverse and reverse of the YBC 7289 tablet",
  "objectNumber": "YBC 7289",
  "collection": "Yale Babylonian Collection",
  "date": "Old Babylonian, 19th–17th century BCE",
  "relationship": "Photographs of both sides of the exhibited tablet, combined in one image.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YBC-7289-OBV-REV.jpg",
  "attribution": "A. Urcia / Yale Peabody; combined by Theodor Langhorne Franklin",
  "license": "CC0 1.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"
}

HIST-MES-002
{
  "kind": "teaching-diagram",
  "path": "/history/observation/ybc-7302-reading.svg",
  "alt": "Teaching diagram of the circle on YBC 7302, with circumference 3 above, squared circumference 9 on the right, and area 0;45 in the centre",
  "objectNumber": "YBC 7302 / YPM BC 021367",
  "collection": "Yale Peabody Museum, Yale Babylonian Collection",
  "date": "Old Babylonian period, c. 1900–1600 BCE",
  "relationship": "An original Atlas drawing of the numbers and their positions, based on the published CDLI reading. The labels use modern numerals and normalized base-60 notation. Explore uses a separate interactive model.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://cdli.earth/cdli-tablet/740",
  "attribution": "BIPH Mathematical Atlas; tablet interpretation by Klaus Wagensonner, CDLI",
  "license": "Original diagram · CC0 1.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"
}

HIST-MES-003
{
  "kind": "artifact-photo",
  "path": "/history/observation/plimpton-322.jpg",
  "alt": "The surviving face of Plimpton 322 with its broken left edge and columns of cuneiform numerals",
  "objectNumber": "Plimpton 322",
  "collection": "Columbia University, Rare Book & Manuscript Library",
  "date": "Old Babylonian, c. 1800 BCE",
  "relationship": "Photograph of the tablet. The 3–4–5 triangle in Explore is a modern teaching comparison, not a transcription of a specific tablet row.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plimpton_322.jpg",
  "attribution": "Photographer unidentified; reproduced via the UBC mathematical exposition and Wikimedia Commons",
  "license": "Public domain, as recorded by Wikimedia Commons"
}

HIST-EGY-001
{
  "kind": "artifact-photo",
  "path": "/history/observation/rhind-original.jpg",
  "alt": "The left part of the recto of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, including its damaged edges and red and black writing",
  "objectNumber": "EA10057, recto, left part",
  "collection": "British Museum",
  "date": "Second Intermediate Period, c. 1650–1550 BCE",
  "relationship": "Photograph of the original papyrus, recto of the first section. The unit-fraction strips in Explore are a modern reconstruction.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhind_Mathematical_Papyrus.jpg",
  "attribution": "British Museum; image distributed by Wikimedia Commons",
  "license": "Public domain, as recorded by Wikimedia Commons"
}

HIST-EGY-002
{
  "kind": "artifact-photo",
  "path": "/history/observation/rhind-original.jpg",
  "alt": "The left part of the recto of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, including its damaged edges and red and black writing",
  "objectNumber": "EA10057, recto, left part",
  "collection": "British Museum",
  "date": "Second Intermediate Period, c. 1650–1550 BCE",
  "relationship": "Photograph of part of the original papyrus. This view is not identified as Problem 50; it provides the material context for the teaching model.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhind_Mathematical_Papyrus.jpg",
  "attribution": "British Museum; image distributed by Wikimedia Commons",
  "license": "Public domain, as recorded by Wikimedia Commons"
}

HIST-CHN-001
{
  "kind": "historical-document",
  "path": "/history/observation/nine-chapters-1820.jpg",
  "alt": "Opening page of the 1820 Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, with vertical Chinese text",
  "objectNumber": "九章算術細草圖說, opening of 方田",
  "collection": "Copy photographed by Zhongguo Shudian Haiwangcun; present collection not established",
  "date": "1820 printed edition",
  "relationship": "A later historical edition of the same work. This photographed page opens the field-measurement chapter, not the equation problem in chapter eight.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E4%B9%9D%E7%AB%A0%E7%AE%97%E8%A1%93%E7%B4%B0%E8%8D%89%E5%9C%96%E8%AA%AA.jpg",
  "attribution": "中國書店海王邨公司, via Wikimedia Commons",
  "license": "Public domain, faithful reproduction of an old printed page"
}

HIST-CHN-002
{
  "kind": "historical-document",
  "path": "/history/observation/sunzi-qing.jpg",
  "alt": "A Qing edition page of Sunzi Suanjing, volume one, with a Siku Quanshu seal",
  "objectNumber": "Sunzi Suanjing, volume one, opening page",
  "collection": "Digitized book page contributed to Wikimedia Commons; present collection not established",
  "date": "Qing dynasty edition, 19th century (Commons record)",
  "relationship": "A later historical edition of the same work. This page introduces measures; it is not the remainder problem from volume three.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sun_Zi_Suanjing.JPG",
  "attribution": "Anonymous historical edition; Wikimedia Commons contributor",
  "license": "Public domain, faithful reproduction of an old printed page"
}

HIST-IND-001
{
  "kind": "historical-document",
  "path": "/history/observation/colebrooke-1817-p339.jpg",
  "alt": "Page 339 of Colebrooke’s 1817 English translation, showing Brahmagupta’s rules for affirmative and negative quantities and zero, printed as cipher",
  "objectNumber": "Algebra, with Arithmetic and Mensuration, 1817, printed p. 339",
  "collection": "University of Toronto Libraries; digitized by the Internet Archive",
  "date": "English translation, London: John Murray, 1817",
  "relationship": "H. T. Colebrooke’s English translation of Brahmagupta’s work from 628 CE. Printed p. 339 covers addition, subtraction, multiplication and the start of division. The division passage continues on p. 340.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://archive.org/details/algebrawitharith00brahuoft/page/n434/mode/1up",
  "attribution": "Brahmagupta, translated by H. T. Colebrooke; University of Toronto Libraries / Internet Archive",
  "license": "Public domain · mechanical scan of the 1817 edition",
  "licenseUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Algebra,_with_Arithmetic_and_mensuration,_from_the_Sanscrit.djvu"
}

HIST-IND-002
{
  "kind": "historical-document",
  "path": "/history/observation/aryabhatiya-1874-p15.jpg",
  "alt": "Sanskrit page 15 of the 1874 Aryabhatiya edition, containing the circumference approximation verse",
  "objectNumber": "SRLF_UCLA:LAGE-522569, printed p. 15",
  "collection": "University of California Libraries / Internet Archive",
  "date": "Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1874; edited by H. Kern",
  "relationship": "Historical printed Sanskrit text with Parameśvara’s commentary, Gaṇitapāda verse 10. This is a later edition, not an autograph or a fifth-century manuscript.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://archive.org/details/aryabhatiyawithc00arya/page/n36/mode/1up",
  "attribution": "University of California Libraries; digitized by Internet Archive",
  "license": "Public domain; Internet Archive record: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT"
}

HIST-GRC-001
{
  "kind": "historical-document",
  "path": "/history/observation/euclid-lueneburg-15r.jpg",
  "alt": "Folio 15r of the Lüneburg Latin Euclid manuscript, showing text and geometrical diagrams",
  "objectNumber": "Lüneburg D 4° 48, f. 15r",
  "collection": "Ratsbücherei Lüneburg",
  "date": "Manuscript c. 1200; reproduced in a 1970 facsimile",
  "relationship": "A medieval Latin witness to Euclidean geometry. This folio is not presented as the exact Proposition I.1 page used by the modern construction.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Euclid_Lueneburg_ms_15r.jpg",
  "attribution": "Menso Folkerts facsimile (1970), via Wikimedia Commons",
  "license": "Public domain, faithful reproduction of a medieval manuscript"
}

HIST-GRC-002
{
  "kind": "historical-document",
  "path": "/history/observation/archimedes-palimpsest.jpg",
  "alt": "An unfolded Archimedes Palimpsest page with overwritten text, stains and folio markings",
  "objectNumber": "Archimedes Palimpsest, unfolded page; exact folio unidentified in source",
  "collection": "Private collection; imaging and conservation at the Walters Art Museum",
  "date": "Mathematical undertext: 10th century; prayer-book reuse: 13th century",
  "relationship": "A physical witness to the survival of Archimedes’ writings. This image is not identified as the Measurement of a Circle passage.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ArPalimTypPage.jpg",
  "attribution": "The Walters Art Museum / Archimedes Palimpsest Project",
  "license": "CC BY 3.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"
}

HIST-ISL-001
{
  "kind": "historical-document",
  "path": "/history/observation/khwarizmi-ham692-36r.jpg",
  "alt": "Folio 36r of a fifteenth-century Latin manuscript of al-Khwarizmi’s algebra",
  "objectNumber": "Ms. Ham. 692, f. 36r",
  "collection": "Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin",
  "date": "15th century (1451 in image record)",
  "relationship": "A historical Latin translation attributed to Gerard of Cremona, not al-Khwarizmi’s autograph. The modern area model is in Explore.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al-Khwarizmi%2C_Handbuch_der_Arithmetik%2C_Algebra_und_Geometrie%2C_Ms._Ham._692%2C_15th_cent.%2C_f._36r.jpg",
  "attribution": "Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, digitized manuscript PPN1676329609",
  "license": "Public domain, faithful reproduction of a historical manuscript"
}

HIST-ISL-002
{
  "kind": "artifact-photo",
  "path": "/history/curatorial/astrolabe.jpg",
  "alt": "Planispheric astrolabe in the Metropolitan Museum collection",
  "objectNumber": "63.166a–j (online object 451699)",
  "collection": "Metropolitan Museum of Art",
  "date": "Safavid Iran, 1654–55",
  "relationship": "Photograph of a historical instrument. Explore is an idealized teaching model, not a scan of this astrolabe.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451699",
  "attribution": "Metropolitan Museum of Art",
  "license": "CC0 / Met Open Access",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"
}

HIST-EUR-001
{
  "kind": "artifact-photo",
  "path": "/history/observation/napier-bones-1700.jpg",
  "alt": "A complete set of Napier’s bones, including the multiplier strip, in the Computer History Museum",
  "objectNumber": "Napier’s bones, c. 1700; inventory number not supplied with photograph",
  "collection": "Computer History Museum",
  "date": "c. 1700; photographed 15 July 2023",
  "relationship": "A surviving historical calculating aid following Napier’s method. It is not claimed to have belonged to Napier.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Napier's_Bones_circa_1700%2C_Computer_History_Museum.jpg",
  "attribution": "The wub",
  "license": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
}

HIST-EUR-002
{
  "kind": "artifact-photo",
  "path": "/history/observation/pascaline-arts-metiers.jpg",
  "alt": "Pascal’s six-digit calculating machine, photographed at the Musée des Arts et Métiers",
  "objectNumber": "Machine arithmétique de Pascal, six chiffres, sans sous ni deniers",
  "collection": "Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris",
  "date": "Signed 1642, as described in photograph record; photographed 2005",
  "relationship": "Photograph of a surviving Pascaline. The simplified decimal wheels in Explore do not reproduce its mechanism.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arts_et_Metiers_Pascaline_dsc03869.jpg",
  "attribution": "David Monniaux",
  "license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"
}

HIST-EUR-003
{
  "kind": "historical-document",
  "path": "/history/observation/ratdolt-folger.jpg",
  "alt": "A full annotated two-page opening of Ratdolt’s 1482 Euclid, with Book III diagrams and marginal notes",
  "objectNumber": "INC E86, Book III opening; website image 006121",
  "collection": "Folger Shakespeare Library",
  "date": "Venice: Erhard Ratdolt, 1482",
  "relationship": "An original early printed edition with later reader annotations. This opening is Book III, not Proposition I.1; Explore uses a separate teaching construction.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.folger.edu/explore/collection-highlights/mathematical-diagrams-from-1482/",
  "attribution": "Folger Shakespeare Library",
  "license": "CC BY-SA 4.0 under Folger website policy",
  "licenseUrl": "https://www.folger.edu/copyright-policy/"
}

ybc-7302-reading.svg
An original Atlas drawing of the numbers and their positions, based on the published CDLI reading. The labels use modern numerals and normalized base-60 notation. Explore uses a separate interactive model.
https://cdli.earth/cdli-tablet/740
Original diagram · CC0 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
SHA-256: 2ba91ba864411e8dda1376ee39694d01fe095ca5ff75545bed431170c46f8fba

colebrooke-1817-p339.jpg
H. T. Colebrooke’s English translation of Brahmagupta’s work from 628 CE. Printed p. 339 covers addition, subtraction, multiplication and the start of division. The division passage continues on p. 340.
https://archive.org/details/algebrawitharith00brahuoft/page/n434/mode/1up
Public domain · mechanical scan of the 1817 edition https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Algebra,_with_Arithmetic_and_mensuration,_from_the_Sanscrit.djvu
SHA-256: 82fbdd6c57191c0ab3a850fb0e574100e5ae7a8bbbf8e2f41a6c6cb73f704176
