A system for writing figures without spelling out the numerals as actual
words existed in Aramaic, the logic of the system being rather akin to that
of Roman numerals. You easily pick it up from reading a few Elephantine
letters in Cowley's edition or the like.
But has a systematic description of the system and its historical
development and variants (if any) been published anywhere? I've turned our
department library upside down to no avail :-(