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Decipher Babylonian numbers

The earliest known writing system originated over 5000 years ago in what is now Iran, Iraq and other parts of Western Asia. This writing system, called ``cuneiform,’’ was used by the Elamites and the Babylonians, and also by Persian kings to make their decrees known, and to audit the tax returns of their many subjects. Cuneiform was used between 3400 B.C.E and 75 C.E. The characters were inscribed on clay or stone tablets using wedge-like instruments. Although many inscriptions have survived, the writing system was not deciphered by modern scholars until 1846.

In this problem you will carry out the kind of work that these scholars had to do to decipher the cuneiform writing system. The following (see image below) is an actual fragment from a Babylonian educational document that was discovered in 1811. This tablet and others allowed scholars to unlock the number system used by the ancient Babylonians. Starting from this point, scholars were able to extend their understanding to the entire writing system. Many of the characters are illegible because of the ravages of time. Nevertheless, it is possible to figure out what the missing characters should be. Your job is to fill in the missing characters:

Bablylonian tablet

Acknowledgements

This question appeared in a NACLO problem set. Unfortunately, I did not record the author of this question when I first downloaded the image many years ago.