Computing is Born: The Sumerian Abacus
Computers are commonly seen as modern inventions. True, the technology we use daily is relatively recent. However, like any innovation, computers their origins back far into history.
Let’s step back in time, back about 4,000 years. Now let’s say that you’re a farmer. New innovations within agriculture have been yielding surplus crops. Not a problem right? Certainly not, but the thing is, your neighbors all have surplus crops as well. The need for you and all your neighbors to all be farmers has reduced. You didn’t like farming anyway. So now what do you do? You’ve got your pick of careers! You could learn blacksmithing, weaving, jewelry, or pottery. You could even try your hand at some art and sculpt or paint. Now that you don’t need to be a farmer, you can use these new skills to trade for the food that you do need. Before you know it you’ve got a growing economy!
No, this isn’t a lesson in basic economics, but what’s at the center of an economy? Money! Money, economies, and trade all fundamentally involve math. And it’s at this point that we find the dawn of computing. Yes, thousands of years before electricity was discovered and used within the home, computational devices were invented, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves, back to our story.
Think about it, when you were a farmer you had a couple sheep, maybe a cow, and several acres of land. That’s not too difficult to manage, a couple marks on a board and everything is taken care of. However, now that you and your neighbors are part of a growing economy that small farm isn’t looking so small. How can you manage trade when 10,000 chickens are involved? That kind of math quickly gets out of hand and that’s exactly where we find the Sumerians during the Bronze Age around 2,500 BC living in what is modern-day Southern Iraq (Huang, “The Origins of Computing…” ). These people were once simple farmers, however, now found themselves in the middle of a thriving economy and complicated trade.
Out of this need was the birth of the first known computing device, the Sumerian Abacus. Only it didn’t look like the abacus you are probably picturing, that one wouldn’t be invented until much later. Rather, the Sumerians invented a 60-base numbering system, who consequently gave us the 60-second minute, 60-second hour, 360 degrees in a circle, and many, many more numbering systems (Garfinkel and Grunspan 16).
Anyway, the Sumerian Abacus was a simple stone tablet, or other flat surface, divided into five columns numbered 1s, 10s, 60s, 600s, and 3600s (see Figure 1), each group with its own symbol for written storage and transfer (Huang, “The Origins of Computing…” ).
When an individual wished to do a calculation, such as addition, they would place the number they were starting with on the tablet marked with stones, grouped by numbers. For example, the number 9,455 would have 2 stones for the 3,600s, 3 stones for the 600s, 7 stones for the 60s, 3 stones for the 10s, and 5 stones for the 1s (see Figure 2). Then they would add the stones for the new number, starting from the right. If they wished to add 20, then they would add 2 stones to the 10s (see Figure 3), giving them a total of 9,475. This number would be represented by 5 symbols, each representing a column on the abacus (Huang, “The Origins of Computing…” ).
This abacus greatly sped up calculation for the sudden increase of large numbers due to a growing population and economic system. The system would later be adopted and used by the Babylonians, after they took control of the area and it would be improved upon and modified over the centuries and millennium that followed.
Although today we call this device an abacus, we are unsure what the Sumerians would have called it at the time. The word abacus itself is thought to have originated in Greece where the word abax means a “slab or drawing board.” The word abacus was probably preceded by the Semitic word for dust referring to the written instruments of the day which involved dragging a finger, or stylus, through dirt or dust to leave marks and communication (Garfinkel and Grunspan 16).
It was with this simple system of columns on a flat surface with stones that the ease of calculation began. The world of computers was just peaking over the horizon. As intriguing as this story is, I can’t help but draw some conclusions from 2,500 BC that still apply to the modern day, remembering these facts will prove important in the coming weeks and months.
First, the abacus was born out of the need for more eased computation. The Sumerians were developing a complex culture and economy. Without a doubt, had the abacus not quickened and simplified computation, the ability for large scale numbers would not have been possible. Their economy would have reached a place of restricted growth or become impossible to manage. There’s an old saying that goes, “necessity is the mother of invention.” That principle is clearly seen here. Need, as you will see, pushes computers and technology forward. Need is an important concept to keep in mind.
First, the abacus was born out of the need for more eased computation.
Second, computation started with a mathematical problem. In our modern age, many may not realize that, at their core, computers simply compute. Hence the name…. Your iPhone, TV, and even those smart light bulbs are fundamentally just adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplying, and carrying out a host of other mathematical problems. Don’t let that scare you, personally I’m not that great at math, be hey, that’s why we have computers!
Second, computation started with a mathematical problem.
If you remember that computers were born from need and that at their core are operating math, then you will notice some exciting details throughout our walk through computing history.
And there you have it, our first milestone in the history of computing, the Sumerian Abacus! Did you guess it correctly? Let me know in the comments or on social media if you enjoyed this blog and what you think our second step towards the computers of today will be. I’m still very new to this and appreciate your feedback!
If you’re interested I invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel, tell a friend, and follow me on social media where I’ll be exchanged daily. I invite you to explore some of the resources I used below. They go into much greater depth. Until next week, thanks for your support and I hope you are looking forward to our journey!
Works Cited
Garfinkel, Simpson L. and Rachel H. Grunspan. The Computer Book: From the Abacus to Artificial Intelligence, 250 Milestones in the History of Computer Science. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2018.
Huang, Ashley. “The Origins Of Computing: The Sumerians, The Abacus & Binary Code.” Medium, Medium, 15 Mar. 2018, medium.com/@Ashley_Huang/the-origins-of-computing-the-sumerians-the-abacus-binary-code-15289c3ced16.
