Babylonian & Egyptian Math
📋 What it is
The Babylonians counted in base-60; the Egyptians used base-10 hieroglyphic numerals and unit fractions.
🗣️ Coach says
Two great river civilizations, two systems. The Babylonians used base-60 (sixty as the grouping) — which is WHY we still have 60 seconds, 60 minutes, and 360° in a circle. The Egyptians wrote base-10 with picture-numerals and loved "unit fractions" like 1/2 and 1/3. Different bases, same goal: writing quantity clearly.
🧠 Memory hook
Babylon = base-60 (→ our clock & angles). Egypt = base-10 pictures + unit fractions.
😂 Giggle
I told my friend a joke about ancient Babylonian math.
It was base-60 humor — not everyone gets it.
😲 Whoa!
Every time you read a clock or measure an angle, you are using the Babylonian base-60 system from about 4,000 years ago.
✅ Quick check: Our 60 minutes in an hour and 360° in a circle come from which ancient number base?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Base-60, from the Babylonians.
The Babylonian base-60 system survives in our timekeeping and angle measures.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Count how many base-60 groups fit in one hour (60) and one full turn (360 = 6 × 60). Predict before you divide.