How did the Babylonian sexagesimal numeral system work?

The Babylonian numeral system was a base-60 cuneiform writing method developed in ancient Mesopotamia. It was notably the first positional notation system, meaning a symbol's value depended on its placement. This legacy survives today in how we divide hours into minutes and circles into degrees.

What we know

• The Babylonian numeral system used a sexagesimal base-60 structure inherited from either the Sumerian or Akkadian civilizations. [2]
• Numbers were written in cuneiform by pressing a wedge-tipped reed stylus into soft clay tablets, which were then sun-dried. [2]
• The Babylonian system was the first developed positional notation system, meaning the value of a symbol depends on its position. [2, 5]
• The influence of the Babylonian base-60 system remains visible in modern timekeeping and angular measurement, such as 60 minutes in an hour and 360 degrees in a circle. [5]

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureWhat is positional notation?
• what followedHow do base-60 calculations apply to modern time and geometry?
• how it workedHow was cuneiform script written on clay tablets?
• compared withHow do Roman numerals compare as a non-positional system?
• how we knowHow did ancient mathematicians use the abacus to aid calculations?
• an unexpected connectionHow does the number 54 connect ancient mathematics to the golden ratio?The sine of a 54-degree angle equals half of the golden ratio, and 54 was a regular number useful in Assyro-Babylonian mathematics.

Sources

• [1]Babylonian numerals (Wikidata Q506274) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Babylonian cuneiform numerals · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]54 (number) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Positional notation · CC BY-SA 4.0