Numerals And Quantifiers Questions Medium
Babylonian numerals were a numeral system used by the ancient Babylonians, who lived in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 2000 BCE. This numeral system was based on a sexagesimal (base-60) system, which means it had a base of 60 instead of the decimal (base-10) system we use today.
In the Babylonian numeral system, different symbols were used to represent different powers of 60. The basic symbols were vertical wedges, which represented the numbers 1, 10, and 60. By combining these symbols, the Babylonians could represent larger numbers. For example, two vertical wedges placed side by side represented the number 2, while three vertical wedges represented the number 3.
To represent larger numbers, the Babylonians used a positional system, similar to our decimal system. They would place the symbols for the higher powers of 60 to the left of the symbols for the lower powers. For example, to represent the number 63, they would use a vertical wedge followed by a vertical wedge with a small horizontal line above it, indicating that it represents 60 plus 3.
Babylonian numerals were widely used for mathematical calculations and record-keeping in ancient Mesopotamia. However, they were eventually replaced by other numeral systems, such as the Greek and Roman numerals, and later the Hindu-Arabic numeral system that is widely used today.