The Egyptians used a Base-10 system. This means they grouped things in tens. However, it was not positional. The value of a symbol was fixed, regardless of where it was written.

Symbols (Hieroglyphs)

Representation

To write 324:

3 Hundreds (Coils)
2 Tens (Heels)
4 Ones (Strokes)

Written as: @@@ nn |||| (grouping order didn’t strictly matter, though usually largest to smallest).

Shortcomings

To write very large numbers (like 1,000,000,000), you would need new symbols for every power of 10. A positional system solves this by reusing symbols.

Topics
Early Counting Methods Roman Numerals
Egyptian Number System
Mesopotamian (Babylonian) System Mayan and Chinese Systems The Hindu Number System
Solutions
Figure It Out: Stick Arithmetic Figure It Out: Roman Numerals Figure It Out: Gumulgal System Figure It Out: Egyptian System Figure It Out: Base-5 System Figure It Out: Adding Egyptian Numerals Figure It Out: Mesopotamian System Figure It Out: Mayan System Figure It Out: Chinese and Hindu Systems
Practice
Solved Examples: Base Conversions