Could the Babylonians have done this?

FACT: The Babylonians estimated the value of pi to be 3 1/8.
FACT: Based on the Plimpton Tablet, we know that the Babylonians were aware of "Pythagorian Triples".

UNCERTAINTY (for me personally): The Babylonians method of establishing the value of pi is based on the perimeter of a hexagon inscribed within a circle. I am still searching for specifics as to how this determines the value of the perimeter of the hexagon to be 25/8.

QUESTION: Could this approximation of squaring the circle have been used by the Babylonians?

The Three Geometric Problems of Greek Antiquity

The Delian Problem

To the complete the trifecta, below is my method on how to estimate the construction of doubling the volume of a given cube.

The Delian Problem [from wikipedia]: The problem owes its name to a story concerning the citizens of Delos, who consulted the oracle at Delphi in order to learn how to defeat a plague sent by Apollo. According to Plutarch it was the citizens of Delos who consulted the oracle at Delphi, seeking a solution for their internal political problems at the time, which had intensified relationships among the citizens. The oracle responded that they must double the size of the altar to Apollo, which was a regular cube. The answer seemed strange to the Delians and they consulted Plato, who was able to interpret the oracle as the mathematical problem of doubling the volume of a given cube, thus explaining the oracle as the advice of Apollo for the citizens of Delos to occupy themselves with the study of geometry and mathematics in order to calm down their passions.

Trisecting an Angle

This is my recent attempt at approximating the trisection of an angle. See links below for sketchpad file and excel spreadsheet. The real point to be made here is that this is proven to be impossible. So, why bother trying? 

Sketchpad  - Excel Spreadsheet

Squaring the Circle

I seriously doubt that this estimation method of Squaring the Circle is unique, but it's new to me. For further reading of this topic and many more, I strongly encourage you to purchase the text 

"Squaring the Circle - Geometry in Art and Architecture" by Paul Calter.

download the sketchpad file 

version 5.0 | version 4.07