The ancient Mesopotamian sexagesimal number system had a base of 60.
Sumerian and Babylonian scribes used sexagesimal mathematics for accounting, measurement, astronomy, and architectural calculations. Their positional notation allowed symbols to represent different values depending on their place, much as digits do in the modern decimal system.
The legacy of base 60 remains visible today. An hour contains 60 minutes, a minute contains 60 seconds, and a circle is conventionally divided into 360 degrees. These traditions developed through later Babylonian and Greek mathematical astronomy rather than surviving unchanged from one single period.
Babylonian mathematics was not simply a primitive version of modern arithmetic. Scribes could solve sophisticated problems involving reciprocals, quadratic equations, areas, and volumes. They also used tables to speed calculations. The system’s major difficulty was that early notation did not always mark an empty place clearly, so readers sometimes had to infer a number’s magnitude from context.