Different Culture's Number Systems

Different culture's have very different number systems. In my college math class we learned about 3 different culture's. We learned about the Egyptian, Babylonian, and Mayan number systems. Instead of the natural numbers that we use in our society, they use symbols to represent their numbers.

The Egyptians use seven different symbols for their numbers, the stick, heel bone/yolk, coiled rope, lotus flower, pointing finger, tadpole, and the astonished man. (For some help with these symbols click here.) Each symbol (starting with the stick and ending with the astonished man) represents different values of ten.

The Babylonians use two different symbols for their numbers, the 'T' and the wedge. (For some help with these symbols click here.) The "T" stands for both one and sixty, the wedge stands for tens.

The Mayans use three different symbols for their numbers, the line, dot, and all seeing eye. (For some help with these symbols click here.) The all seeing eye stands for both zero and 20, the dots stand for one, and the line stands for five.