My initial impression of this text is filled with fascination as we have such a rich history of word problems! It is really interesting to have evidence of history dated back over 4000 years ago, and to understand the differences in what societies did back then compared to our conventional methods today.
I do think that these problems were practical, because they were based on real world applications that individuals may have faced at the time, such as dividing up an estate in the case of someone passing away. The word problems that we see of this era are typically centered around harvesting, agriculture, and other everyday activities that were present during this time. I am not too sure how to interpret generality in this context, but I do think these problems are helpful for understanding and learning mathematics.
I think the concept of abstraction is typically present in word problems, and I can noticeably see that here in these examples as well. Although the problems are centered around real world applications, I believe they are designed for the purpose of teaching mathematics, which is why they can appear far fetched and abstract. Furthermore, I definitely think that I am biased when writing this post based on my familiarity of modern day algebra. I am sure that different mathematical methods and approaches worked for different civilizations, and these are my ideas based on our civilization today.
Good! Interesting thoughts and commentary.
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