Actually the Babylonians did not use base 60 exclusively. Sometimes the years were written 2 me 25, where me stood for hundred—in our symbols, 225. Also l£mu was used for 1000, generally in non-mathematical texts, though it occurs even in mathematical texts of the Seleucid period. Sometimes 10 and 60 were mixed, as in 2 me 1, 10, which means 2 ×100 + 1 × 60 +10 or 270. Mixed systems involving units of 60, 24, 12, 10, 6, and 2 were used for dates, areas, measures of weight, and coinage, just as we use 12 for hours, 60 for minutes and seconds, 12 for inches, and 10 for ordinary counting. The Babylonian systems, like ours, were a composite of many historical and regional customs. However, in the mathematical and astronomical texts they did use base 60 quite consistently.
–Base 60 | Video by Numberphile
