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Submitted that link earlier, probably the most detailed analysis I have seen (with explanation of Babylonian floating point!)

http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/courses/m446-03/pl322/pl322.htm...

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What I find more interesting is how form follows function in this numbering system. It is the clay "writing" system of pressing a kind of wedge into the clay in a layered fashion that gave form to the numbering system as a matter of practicality from the medium. The clay dictated how to "write" the numbers, it wasn't simply a matter of a writing system that was simply recorded in the medium of clay. It is precisely why that "writing" system did not survive the transition tho papyrus or parchment. Or, in other words, it was deemed to have advantageous characteristics that were then adapted to through the numbering system.

For what it’s worth, cuneiform writing lasted about as long or longer than any other writing system in history, though the Chinese writing system is pretty close by now.

I think the main reason it went out of style is that the languages written in cuneiform were replaced by others which already had their own alphabets. I’m not remotely an expert on this though.

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