Skip to main content



 : Sumerian Number System


Sumerian Number System

The Sumerians used a numerical system based on 1, 10 and 60. The way of writing a number like 70 would be the sign for 60 and the sign for 10 right after. This way of counting is still used today for measuring time as 60 seconds per minute and 60 minutes per hour. Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known systems of writing. Emerging in Sumer in the late 4th millennium BC, cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. Cuneiform documents were written on clay tablets, by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The impressions left by the stylus were wedge shaped, thus giving rise to the name cuneiform wedge shaped, from the Latin cuneus wedge

Picture No
13346428
Media ID
47784550
Size
3300px x 4618px (1.2MB)
Credit
© Science Source / Mary Evans Picture Library
Usage Restrictions
Commercial sales may require 3rd party clearance
Source
Science Source

Pick your License

Please tell us the book title or ISBN

Please supply intended use


 

Restrictions Only for Ireland and United Kingdom

Counting Cuneiform Math Numerals Numerical Pictographs Sumerian


Features In These Collections

> Contributors > PHR

Gallery Wall Inspiration

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian Immunologist
Laughing Gas, Nitrous Oxide
Laughing Gas, Nitrous Oxide
James Watt, Scottish Inventor and Engineer
Asteriornis ancient bird, illustration
Hesperornis ancient bird, illustration
Icthyornis ancient bird, illustration
Confuciusornis sanctus ancient bird, illustration
Deinonychus ancient bird art, illustration
Laughing Gas, Nitrous Oxide
Laughing Gas, Nitrous Oxide
Thames Water Drop, 1850
Michael Faraday and Father Thames, 1855
Thames Water Drop, 1850
Michael Faraday and Father Thames, 1855
Cellular Plant Tissue, Matthias Jakob Schleiden, 1847
Henry Maudsley, British Psychiatrist
Swimming Manual, Digby, 1587
Swimming Manual, Digby, 1587
Russian Pirates, 1805
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian Immunologist
Johnny Appleseed, American Nurseryman
Saint Paul, Christian Apostle
James Fenimore Cooper, American Author
Arthrobotrys, SEM
Rhizopus sexualis, SEM
Flint Hatchet, Stone Age Tool



 
© Copyright Mary Evans Picture Library - All Rights Reserved 2026
Powered by Media Storehouse®
We accept all major payment options so you can pay for the things you need in the way that is most convenient for you
Facebook     Twitter     Instagram