Trigonometric tables have been used by the Babylonians for thousands of years. This is proven by the discovery of clay artefacts, shaped like a book and 3,700 years old, in the early 1900s in southern Iraq by American archaeologists and diplomat Edgar Banks.

At that time, no one could read the table known as Plimpton 332. Reported by the Telegraph, Monday, September 11, 2017, experts from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, managed to read the purpose of the tablet.

UNSW Mathematical and Statistical Scientist Daniel Mansfield said Plimpton 332 was the oldest and most accurate trigonometric table in the world, probably used by ancient architects to build temples, palaces and canals.

"The Babylonians developed trigonometry 1,500 years before the Greeks and used sophisticated mathematical methods that could change the way we count," Mansfield said.

The difference in trigonometry now and Plimpton 332, namely Babylonian mathematics using the basic system 60, or sexagesimal, and not the 10 used today.

Because 60 is much easier to divide into three, experts who study the tablet find that the calculations are far more accurate. 3,700-year-old Babylonian tablet rewrites the history of maths - and shows the Greeks did not develop trigonometry source

But in Research shows that Plimpton 322 describes the shape of the right angle triangle using a new type of trigonometry based on ratios, not angles and circles. Mathematical mystery of ancient clay tablet solved source

The old tablet not only contains the oldest trigonometric tables in the world but also the only truly accurate trigonometric tables because the Babylonian approach was very different from arithmetic and geometry

Hipparchus of Nicaea (/hɪˈpɑːrkəs/; Greek: Ἵππαρχος, Hipparkhos; c. 190 – c. 120 bc) was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician. He is considered the founder of trigonometry but is most famous for his incidental discovery of the precession of the equinoxes.
Wikipedia source

Previously, the Greek astronomer Hipparchus was considered the father of trigonometry, with a 'chord table' in a circle. This is considered the oldest trigonometric table. Hipparchus source

The table read by Hipparchus found in the ancient city of Sumni, Larsa was between 1822 and 1762 BC. Now at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University in New York. "Plimpton 322 overtook Hipparchus for more than 1,000 years".

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Reference:

1. 3,700-year-old Babylonian tablet rewrites the history of maths - and shows the Greeks did not develop trigonometry source

2. Mathematical mystery of ancient clay tablet solved source

3. Wikipedia source

4. Hipparchus source

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