Abacus History

The history of abacus dates back to nearly 2500 years back. The Abacus is an ancient mathematical instrument used for calculation it is one of the world’s first real calculating tools.

The word Abacus is derived from the Greek "Abax" meaning counting board and the original types of Abacus were stone slates with dust covering them and a stylus used for marking numbers. Later this evolved into a slate with groves where rocks or other counters would be placed to mark numbers. Later it finally evolved into a framed device with beads sliding along bamboo rods.

Dust Abacus

The original utilization of an Abacus related calculation system is presumed to have been in the form of a board covered with dust or fine sand.The sand was divided into lines, each one representing a different numerical position. Numbers and quantities were calculated by means of various signs drawn along the lines. The early civilization of Mesopotamia may have seen the development of such a rudimentary calculator.

Line Abacus

With time, the dust abacus developed into a ruled board on which pebbles or counters were placed on lines somewhat like checkers on a backgammon board. Its wide use in Egypt, Rome, Greece, India, and other ancient civilization is well attested. Herodotus (484 – 425 BC) most likely refers to aline abacus in his records : “The Egyptians move their hands from right to left in calculation, while the Greeks from left to right”. A famous example of the line abacus is the Salamis Abacus preserved at the Athens Museum. It consists of a white marble board (149 by 75 Cm) with lines drawn on it.

Egyptian Abacus

The use of the abacus in Ancient Egypt is mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus ,who writes that the Egyptians manipulated the pebbles from right to left,opposite in direction to the Greek left-to-right method. Archaeologists have found ancient disks of various sizes that are thought to have been used as counters. However, wall depictions of this instrument have not been discovered,casting some doubt over the extent to which this instrument was used.

Persian Abacus

During the Archaemenid Persian Empire , around 600 BC the Persians first began to use the abacus. Under Parthian and Sassanian Iranian empires,scholars concentrated on exchanging knowledge and inventions by the countries around them – India , China , and the Roman Empire , when it is thought to be expanded over the other countries.