2-663-049 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Egyptian Surveyor with coiled rope for measuring, 1400BC. The Pharaoh's surveyors used measurements based on body parts. It is thought the Egyptians introduced the earliest fully-developed base 10 numeration system at least as early as 2700 BCE. Written numbers used a stroke for units, a heel-bone symbol for tens, a coil of rope for hundreds and a lotus plant for thousand.