this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2024
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Yes, but they actually combine base 12 with base 5 to get base 60.
And how they do it, is also quite interesting:
With one hand you can count to twelve. Use each finger segment of the four fingers to denote a number and count by placing the thumb.
Base of index finger is 1, middle is 2 and top is 3. Middle finger has 4,5,6, ring finger has 7,8,9. Pinky has 10,11,12.
Now use the other hand to count how often you reached 12.
In terms of the names of the numbers, it goes 1-12 like we also have in English (that's why eleven and twelve have unique names).
And then you have 1-5 dozens, to get up to 60.
Sure? Because the only cuniform numbers I could find are base 10 and than 60. They might have counted differently with their hands, I wasn't there to observe.
But the thing you describe, I remember vaguely that it's ancient Egypt. Neither is related to modern English by the way. I guess you mixed up alot.
No, I'm not sure. I learned it from a TikTok video.
Google only shows me Babylonian cuneiform.
Google does show some sources that claim eleven and twelve are evidence of a base-12 influence, but most sources disagree with that theory.
So yeah, perhaps I mixed it up.