Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com>]

Trevor & Julie Peterson wrote:

> I checked into this a little while ago. I didn't find anything in-depth.
> The World's Writing Systems has a chapter on numerals, and there was a
> book referenced in that chapter that I can't remember offhand. It's
> basically a history of numbers and has some material on the numeral
> system in Aramaic. (I had to wander over to the engineering library to
> find it.) If I remember right, it's actually borrowed from Egyptian, so
> you might try looking for something on that.
>
> Trevor Peterson
> CUA/Semitics
>  
>
>  
The Egyptian numbering system, as used with hieroglyphs, seems to be 
remarkably simple at least in comparison with the writing system. They 
used an inverted U for ten and a simple stroke or I for one, and 
repeated them as often as was needed put together in blocks. Thus in an 
example I have 28 is written as two blocks each with an inverted U at 
the top and under each arm of the inverted U two I's one above the 
other, thus a total of eight I's. I don't know how they dealt with 
hundreds and above as the examples are mostly of regnal years.

--
Peter Kirk
peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~peterkirk/