An ancient wooden tablet partly inscribed with a multiplication table has been discovered for the first time.
 
The Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation said that a times table was faintly engraved in Chinese characters on the tablet found in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, the capital of the ancient Baekje Kingdom.
 
Measuring five centimeters wide and 30 centimeters long, the tablet is presumed to have been produced in the sixth century during the Baekje era, which spanned from 18 B.C to 660 A.D.
 
The foundation explained that the tablet will likely be Korea’s oldest record of a multiplication table to be found. Until now, a relic from the medieval Goryeo Dynasty, which lasted from 918 to 1392, has been considered the oldest record of the numerical system.