Sumerians, Greeks and Babylonians were the forerunners in observing the astronomical objects, may be for omens initially and later for calculating time. Sumerians observed that the sun takes a circular path and it takes approximately 360 days for one cycle (which is exactly 365.15 days which we call a year). This may the starting point for using 360. Obviously, others may have tried to change this to some other number. However, there are many reasons to stick to 360 degrees.
- It is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 16.
- Babylonians used base 60 numbers which is favourable to 360 degree
- The Greeks devided the the total number of days in to 24 hours.
- Later Babylonians devided each hour in to 60 minutes and each minute in to 60 seconds (which is their base system)
