![]() The first column was the unit columnĪnd contained any of the fifty-nine base units. Therefore, the idea of place value is an ancient one. The Babylonians then used a positional number system like we have today to arrange the numbers intocolumns. I firstdiscovered that the Babylonians used only two cuneiform symbols to arrange into fifty-nine base units.(See chart below) Nevertheless, there is no clear explanationwhy the civilizations of Mesopotamia used sixty as a base.My next task was to gain an understanding of how a base sixty number system worked. Still others argue that using the division of each fingerinto three sections could allow a person to count to sixty. Others argue that there were about 360 days in ayear and that this would account for using 60. This would make the number sixty easy to manipulate when calculating amounts ofgrain that the ancients used as currency for barter. Apparently, thesystem of weights and measures in the Fertile Crescent civilizations relied upon the fraction amountsof 1/3 and 2/3. Somehistorians have argued that the number sixty has many factors such as 1,2,3,4,5,12, 15, 20, 30, and 60.Having so many factors has made sixty a number that is easy to divide into amounts. It is clear that the Babylonians inherited this system from theSumerians, but why any of the ancient civilizations chose sixty as a base is a bit of a mystery. It is not as easy to seethe importance of the number sixty. One can see how a base 10 system would originate from the fact that a human has10 fingers, or how a base 20 system would originate from 20 fingers and toes. ![]() Therefore, the main reason that I have choosen this topic is to gain anunderstanding of how it worked, and to develop lessons on Babylonian mathematics that I canincorporate into the social studies curriculum.įindings:My first question as to why the Babylonians adopted a number system based upon sixty proved to bedifficult to answer. Ihave always known that the Babylonians had a sexagesimal number system, but I have never fullyunderstood how it worked. ![]() ![]() A favorite activity ofmy students is to make clay tablets and to write stories in the soft clay in cuneiform using a stylus. As part of this unit, I cover the cuneiform language of these civilizations. The Sumerians and Babylonians are two of the civilizations that we have covered inclass. By Mark Swanson The Babylonian Number SystemEssential Questions:Why did the Babylonians use a number system based on 60 instead of 10? How did the Babyloniannumber system work? How was the Base 60 number system different from a Base 10 numbersystem?Why this topic?As a social studies teacher, I often have to teach about the early civilizations that developed inMesopotamia. ![]()
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