Math · 2
Roughly when did Babylonian scribes first begin marking an empty placeholder position within numbers, a precursor to zero?
Answer
Around 300 BCE
Historical records of Babylonian mathematics show that by roughly 300 BCE, scribes were using a placeholder mark for an empty middle position in their sexagesimal numerals, though it was never used at the end of a number.
💡 Did you know?
The Babylonians used zero around 300 BCE but only in the middle of numbers, never at the end—creating ambiguity that plagued astronomy for centuries.
Other options people guess
- Around 300 CE
- Around 1000 BCE
- Around 500 CE
Topics
- zero
- babylonians
- ancient-mathematics
- numerals
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