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Why is it the 12 days of Christmas, and not 25 days?

Last time I checked…Christmas isn’t being celebrated today! 

Amusingly, the 12 days of Christmas refer to the 12 days after Christmas (ending on January 5), traditionally finishing with the visit of the Magi (3 wise men) to Jesus. 

Religious traditions aside, the number 12 has a long history, with a 12-number (duodecimal) number system being used back thousands of years ago in ancient Mesopotamia and being referred to as “krakerap” by the Wurundjeri people for millennia. In many languages, 12 is often referred to as something similar to “10-2”, as showcased in the range of writing systems shown below, with the separate symbols denoting a “10” and “2” respectively. 

So, what makes 12 special? Many things! It is the first ‘abundant number’ (the sum of all of its’ factors, other than itself, is larger than the number itself 

1+2+3+4+6>12

…I wonder what the next ‘abundant number’ is?). It is also a ‘sublime number’ (I’ll leave you to look up that definition). A 12-sided shape (dodecagon) is also the ‘largest’ regular shape that can tile the plane (although it does require other shapes). 

12 is also important when it comes to packing spheres! If you have any sphere (basketball, soccer ball, etc.) in a big bin, the maximum number of basketballs that could touch any single basketball is 12! 

If you want to see how that works, feel free to search up “Ramanujan summation”. Warning, potentially spooky mathematics may lie ahead! 

Whatever your celebrations might be over this holiday break, I hope you get to relax, enjoy time with friends and family, and, (maybe) explore something curious! 

Merry Mathing!