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Positional base-60 system — Babylonian mathematicians

~2000 BC · Transmission: Global

MathematicsSystemMesopotamian

The Babylonians develop the sexagesimal system with position as a concept. Base 60 persists today in minutes, seconds, and degrees. Tablets YBC 7289 and Plimpton 322 are direct evidence of advanced arithmetic, including approximations of √2 and Pythagorean triples.

InstitutionBabylonian scribes

Historical regionMesopotamia (present-day Iraq)

Primary sourcePlimpton 322 tablet — Columbia University Libraries; YBC 7289 — Yale Babylonian Collection

Secondary sourceRobson, E. — Mathematics in Ancient Iraq (2008, Princeton UP)

Original languageAkkadian cuneiform

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