The Tigris and Euphrates River pass through Iraq in close proximity before emptying into the Persian Gulf. The fertile soils of the Mesopotamia region provided the early inhabitants of Iraq with conditions similar to those of the Egyptians in regards to the Nile River. These rivers helped to build and sustain powerful empires.
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There was a time when written numbers did not exist. As trade and commerce grew, a need for adding and subtracting numbers became evident. The Sumerians were the first to use counting boards, the forerunner of the abacus. The first abacus, developed in 2300 to 2700 BC, was a complex device. As it spread and evolved from nation to nation, each contributed changes to improve the device. It is now possible to perform complex calculations on a modern abacus, allowing it to go far beyond adding and subtracting.
