this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle

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[–] mv777711 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

The Egyptians and Babylonians counted in base 12. They did so by counting each section of the fingers on one hand with their thumb (4 fingers, 3 sections each = 12).

[–] Hypersapien 1 points 1 year ago

From what I understand they used base 60. They counted each finger section on one hand with each of the fingers on the other (5x12)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

I have noticed old people in India who are used to counting like that as well.