BABYLONIAN NUMERAL SYSTEM
The Babylonian numeral system used cuneiform (wedge-shaped) symbols. An early system of about 2100 BC was based on 60. In this system, a numeral contained groups of symbols. One group stood for the number of ones, the next group stood for 60's, the next for ( 60 X 60)'s, and so on.
By 1500 BC, the Babylonians had also developed a system based on 10. In this system, the numeral for "one thousand" was a combination of the symbols for "ten" and "one hundred."