1. Multiplication from the Ages
Mrs. Fox

2. Multiplication has been dated back to 2300 BC in many places around the globe from Mesopotamia to Europe, Asia and the United States
Different methods of multiplication have been used through the centuries
Some are common to us and some are bizarre
Some have interesting trivia to go with them
Let’s take a look !

3. Akkadians and Sumerians
Invented the
Abacus
2300 BC
Mesopotamia
add
subtract
multiply
divide

4. Old Babylonian Period
2000 BC
Archeologist unearthed stone tablets much like our current multiplication tables

5. Translation – trajectory of a cow’s urine ?????
Gomutrika
Translation – trajectory of a cow’s urine ?????
11th Century
Indian
4 5 2
3 X 452
1 X 452
5 X 452
4 5 2 +

6. Multiplication with fingers Not really multiplication
Rome
Multiplication with fingers
Not really multiplication

7. Ancient Egyptian Multiplication
14 X 23
Double this digit 14 28 56
112
224
Halve this digit 23 11 5 2 1
Odd?
Yes
yes
Add the “yes” doubles 14 28 56
+224
322

8. European Leonardo of Pisa
Lattice
Jalousia
Iron Grid
European Leonardo of Pisa
Gelosia
Italian men would place this grid over their windows to keep strangers from staring at their wives
32 X 15 = 480 1 5 3 2 1 1 4 5 8

9. Can you figure this one out?
Spanish
1500’s
875x978=855750
875/978
8x9
726460
8x7
5695
8x8
6354 45
7x9 43
7x7
855750
7x8
5x9
Can you figure this one out?
5x7
5x8

10. Napier’s Bones
England
1600’s
Scottsman with way too much time on his hands makes one of the first know calculators from animal bones

11. Russian Peasant Multiplication The left side is the answer
9 X 8
Double this numeral
Halve this numeral 9 18 36 72 8 4 2 1
When the right side = 1
The left side is the answer 72

12. Traditional 23 X 43 20th century 69 92 989 + Multiply 23 X 3
Add the two products
989

13. Today’s modern miracle
Calculator
Today’s modern miracle
Push buttons

14. References www.noisefactory.co.uk/mathshistory www.multiplication.com

15. Pa Math Standards
2.1.4.E – Apply factors and multiples to represent larger numbers in various ways
2.2 – Computation and Estimation
M4.A.2 – Understanding the meaning of operations, use operations and understand how they relate to each other