The First Abacus- Babylon

The first abacus is thought to have originated from Babylon. This relates to the question: "How does human need, interest and curiosity drive human invention?" because the citizens of Ancient Mesopotamia traded with other city states. This would have required adding large sums in order to make the business transaction. The abacus would have aided the people to trade more efficiently with other areas. Also, it may have been used for architecture, to decide the dimensions of a building or temple. People needed an easier way to quickly add or subtract sums, so they invented the earliest version of an abacus to make their lives simpler.
We are connected the Babylon through their methods of quickly adding and subtracting. Today, we use calculators as our fast and simple way to add or subtract sums. Think about when you go to the grocery store, and watch the numbers add up on the computer screen. The person behind the counter would not have been using an abacus, but the computer helps us add and subtract things, just as the abacus helped Babylonians while they traded. We are connected to civilizations of the past, they invented an abacus to help them with math problems, and we use computers and calculators today.


The picture above is a very early version of a Babylonian abacus. It was used to calculate equations for trade.