Very little is known about the origin of magic squares. Next to nothing is known about the movement of the idea of a magic square before about 1300 AD. Three cultures are known to have created magic squares, the Chinese, the Indian, and the Arabic. In each culture they were viewed as having supernatural properties.
The first magic square in history was created in China by an unknown
mathematician, sometime before the first century AD. "Called the Lo Shu square, it is a magic square of 3 that was said to have appeared on the back of a turtle that came up out of the river. …
