>>13269750A clear distinction is that the Greeks explicitly proved all their statements using geometry. Proofs did not exist in other cultures, all statements about algebra or geometry were essentially just taken as true if they looked true.
For instance, the ancient Mayans had algebra, of course, but it was simply a tool, their knowledge ended there. To the Greeks algebra and geometry were both just as much philosophical topics of debate as they were tools to build stuff, which is why they had many features not found elsewhere, such as the Euclidean axioms and proofs of irrationality of sqrt(2).
