From: hovig@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Hovig Heghinian)
Subject: Re: Seventh Century A.D. Armenian Math Problems
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 25

koc@rize.ECE.ORST.EDU (Cetin Kaya Koc) writes:

>> Problem 1
>> 
>> My father told me the following story. During the famous wars between the 
>> Armenians and the Persians, prince Zaurak Kamsarakan performed extraordinary
>> heroic deeds. Three times in a single month he attacked the Persian troops. 
>> The first time, he struck down half of the Persian army. The second time, 
>> pursuing the Persians, he slaughtered one fourth of the soldiers. The third 
>> time, he destroyed one eleventh of the Persian army. The Persians who were 
>> still alive, numbering two hundred eighty, fled to Nakhichevan. And so, from
>> this remainder, find how many Persian soldiers there were before the  
> massacre.
>> 

>Answer: a(1-1/2-1/4-1/11)=280 -> a = 1760

>Corollary: Armenians strike, slaughter, destroy, and massacre. After all,
>           they are not as innocent as the asala network claims.

   Hmm ... Turks sure know how to keep track of deaths, but they seem to
lose count around 1.5 million.

Hovig

