Mathematics in the Secular Textbook

In order to prepare for possible re-entry to the classroom, I have begun by reviewing Algebra 2 in order to revitalize skills I haven't practiced for years.

In one of the lessons I came across this item.

This is very typical of material found in school textbooks. On what basis does the author conclude that "The first mathematics in the western world was that of the Egyptians and the Babylonians?

Do not get me wrong. As a mathematics classroom veteran of 12 years, I think that this is the best textbook I have ever seen or worked with at this level. My teaching years ended just as John Saxon was getting under way with his work. His textbooks were exactly the thing I had been wishing I could have had as a teacher, because I had seen the need for incremental instruction with continual review and realized it would have been a huge benefit in many of the classrooms in which I had taught.

The statement raises several questions:

1. Is there not a hidden assumption here? Are there records on which this conclusion is based, and are they the only valid records that we have on the early history of mathematics in western civilization?

2. Where did the Babylonians and Egyptians get their knowledge of mathematics? Did they invent it?

Having read through the Old Testament and having recently read Mathematics: Is God Silent (James Nickel) and The Soul of Science (Nancy R. Pearcy, Charles B. Thaxton), I think there is reason to believe that the conclusions of the author serve to reinforce "what we all know" from going to school. It is "politically correct". It does not tell the entire story.