"[T]he word 'geometry'... means 'land-measurement,' that the Egyptians gave this science to the world and that among the Egyptians... it... was confined almost entirely to the practical requirements of the surveyor. The work ["Directions for obtaining the knowledge of all dark things" in the Rhind collection] of ..., contains, beside sums in arithmetic, a great many geometrical examples... Ahmes proceeds to calculate the contents of... receptacles... The rectilineal figures of which Ahmes calculates the areas are the square, oblong, isosceles triangle and isosceles parallel-trapezium (...part of an isosceles triangle cut by a line parallel to the base). As to the last two, the areas... are incorrect. ...The errors in these cases are small... The area of a circle is found (in no. 50) by deducting from the diameter 1/9th of its length and squaring the remainder. Here π is taken = ( \frac{16}{9})^2 = 3.1604..., a... fair approximation. ...Lastly, the papyrus contains (nos. 56 to 60) some examples which seem to imply a rudimentary trigonometry. In these... the problem is to find the uchatebt, piremus or seqt of a pyramid or obelisk."