So How Were the Tents of Israel Placed? A Bible-Inspired Geometric Problem

Authors

Julio Urenda, The University of Texas at El PasoFollow
Olga Kosheleva, The University of Texas at El PasoFollow
Vladik Kreinovich, The University of Texas at El PasoFollow

Publication Date

12-2020

Comments

Technical Report: UTEP-CS-20-126

Published in International Mathematical Forum, 2021, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 11-18.

Abstract

In one of the Biblical stories, prophet Balaam blesses the tents of Israel for being good. But what can be so good about the tents? A traditional Rabbinical interpretation is that the placement of the tents provided full privacy: from each entrance, one could not see what is happening at any other entrance. This motivates a natural geometric question: how exactly were these tents placed? In this paper, we provide an answer to this question.