Babylonian cuneiform (Latin, cuneus, a wedge) writing consists entirely of a wedge or groups of wedges pointed either down or to the right. Pressed into moist clay tablets with a stylus (made from dried papyrus reeds) cuneiform is a quick and elegant system for representing numerals as well as a quick, practical, and succinct means of […]
Writing Sexagesimal Numbers – Modern Notation
To write numbers in the Babylonian sexagesimal system employing Arabic numerals, we have established several conventions: A comma “,” is used to separate sexagesimal places. A semicolon “;” is used to separate integers from fractions. Note that these are contemporary conventions. Neither commas nor semicolons have counterparts in ancient texts. DECIMALLY and SEXAGESIMALLY For integers: […]
Babylonian Astronomy
Babylonian astronomy was developed primarily as mathematical theory, and in later times observation played a surprisingly minor role. A partial list of the records of observations which have survived would include: Venus tablets of Ammizaduga (c. 1500 B.C.). Eclipse records (from very early times). New-moon records (from equally early times). These records were essential in the initial […]
The Astronomy of Venus
Venus, moving in an orbit smaller than the Earth’s, must always appear to be much in the same direction as the Sun. She may sometimes be to the left of the Sun, sometimes to the right, but never more than 48° distant from him, and at her greatest distance crosses the meridian between three and […]
Horizon Phenomena
(Egyptian Decans & Babylonian Inferior Planets)