G06: Mesopotamia: Mathematics

Unlike the Egyptians, the Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia developed flexible techniques for dealing with fractions. They also succeeded in developing a more sophisticated base-10 arithmetic that was positional, and they kept mathematical records on clay tablets. The most remarkable feature of Babylonian arithmetic was its use of a sexagesimal (base 60) place-valued system in addition to a decimal system. Thus the Babylonians counted in groups of sixty as well as ten. Babylonian mathematics is still used to tell time—an hour consists of 60 minutes, and each minute is divided into 60 seconds—and circles are measured in divisions of 360 degrees.