The Babylonian number system, which arose forthousands of years before the onset of a new era, was the beginning of the beginning of mathematics. Despite its ancient age, it succumbed to decoding and revealed to the researchers many secrets of the Ancient East. We, too, will now plunge into the past and find out what the ancients thought.

Main characteristics

So, the most important thing you need to know is Babylonianthe number system is positional. This means that the numbers are written from right to left and in descending order. In the first place is a hundred, then a dozen, and then a unit. For ancient mathematics, this aspect is extremely important, since in Egypt, for example, the system was non-positional, and the numbers in the number were recorded in a chaotic order, which caused confusion. The second characteristic - in the Babylonian system there was a sexagesimal cycle. The count ended at every sixth dozen, and to continue the number series, a new rank was marked, and the recording started again from one. In general, the Babylonian number system is not at all complicated, even a schoolboy will be able to master it.

History of occurrence

It is well known that the Babylonian kingdom wasIt is built on the ruins of two powerful powers - Sumer and Akkad. From these civilizations there are a lot of cultural heritage, which the Babylonians very wisely ordered. In the Sumerians, they borrowed a six-figure numerical series in which discharges were present, and the Akkadians had dozens. Combining the work of their ancestors, the inhabitants of the new state became the creators of a new science, which was called "mathematics." The Babylonian sexagesimal numbering system made it clear that positionalism is an extremely important factor in the recording of numbers, therefore later Roman, Greek and Arabic numerals were created on this principle. Till now we measure the values ​​by tens, as if dividing with their help the number on the digits. But as for the six-cycle, then take a look at the dial of the watch.

Record Babylonian figures

To remember the numerical sequence of the ancient Babylonians,Special efforts will not be necessary. In mathematics, they used only two signs - a vertical wedge that denoted a unit, and a "recumbent" or horizontal wedge showing a dozen. Such figures have something in common with the Roman ones, where sticks, ticks and crosses meet. The number of these or those wedges showed how many tens and units in a particular number. In such a technique, the count was made up to 59, after which a new vertical wedge was recorded before the number, which this time was already considered as 60, and a discharge was marked in the form of a small comma at the top. Having in their arsenal ranks, the inhabitants of the Babylonian kingdom rid themselves of the incredibly long and intricate numbers-hieroglyphs. It was enough to count the number of small commas and wedges that were between them, as it immediately became clear what number in front of you.

Mathematical Operations

Proceeding from the fact that the Babylonian number systemwas positional, addition and subtraction occurred according to the scheme familiar to us. It was necessary to count the number of digits, tens and units in each number and after folding them or taking away less from less. It is interesting that the principle of multiplication at that time was the same as today. If it was necessary to multiply small numbers, they used a multiple addition. If the example contained three or more significant indicators, they used a special table. Babylonians invented a lot of multiplication tables, in each of which one of the factors was a certain dozen (20, 30, 50, 70, etc.).

From ancestors to contemporaries

After reading all this, you probably will"How did the Babylonian number system, the examples used by the ancients, and the tasks reached such accuracy to the hands of modern archaeologists?" The thing is that unlike other civilizations that used papyrus and scraps of cloth, the Babylonians used clay tablets , on which they recorded all their achievements, including mathematical discoveries. This technique was called "cuneiform", since on fresh clay a specially sharpened blade was used to display symbols, numbers and figures. At the end of the work, the plates were dried and put in storage, in which they could hold out to this day.

Summarizing

In the above images, we clearlywe see what it was and how the Babylon number system was recorded. Photos of clay tablets, which were created in ancient times, are a little different from modern “decoding”, so to speak, but the principle remains the same. For Babylon, the emergence of mathematics was an inevitable factor, since this civilization was one of the leading in the world. They erected enormous buildings for those times, made unthinkable astronomical discoveries and built the economy, thanks to which the state became prosperous and prosperous.