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Ancient Numeral System

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All ancient numeral systems are unique at the hand of their culture and time period. Some numeral systems have adapted from each other, or originated from another civilization but they all have something in common. Whether its their originality, or their base, or just a rule they use, they are all similar. In this paper I will research and summarize three different ancient numeral systems. The Babylonian, Roman and Mayan numeral systems. I will describe their origins, characteristics, symbols, and many more. Babylonians carved their numbers in soft clay with a “wedge-tipped reed” to create marks termed cuneiform script. This clay tablet then dries in the sun to produce a permanent record. This method of writing first appeared around …show more content…

This system was also called base 12, being it uses a base of 12. A dot symbolizes uncia “twelfth”, these dots were used for 1-5 while 6 was represented by S which means semis “half”. Therefore • is 1/12, while •••• or :: is 4/12. The fraction 6/12 is S and S••• or S:· is 9/12 (or ¾). The dots did not have to be liner, the Romans used :·: for 5. Special values such as zero is portrayed differently throughout different cultures and numeral systems. In the Roman numeral system, zero is not characterized by a specific Roman numeral. There is a latin word (nulla) which means none, this was used by medieval scholars. This was soon shortened to N for the first initial of nulla. However the Mayan zero consists of a shell like symbol (). The Mayan numeral system is based off a vigesimal numeral system, which is base-20. There are three symbols in the Mayan number system, zero (a shellike symbol), one (a dot) and 5 (a bar). Therefore 11 would be 1 dot over two horizontal bars, or 15 would be 3 bars. All numbers after nineteen would be written in powers of twenty, and when reached to the 400s it would be different as well. So the number 23 would consist of one dot on top of three dots following two bars. The number 429 would be written as one dot, on top of another single dot, atop of four dots following one

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The Mayans were just one of several civilizations in Mesoamerica that accomplished many achievements. They had one of the greatest pre-industrial architectural cultures, started a trade network, formed a number system and were one of the first to use the number zero, and created a calendar based off what they saw. The trade network was significant as it allowed the Mayan tribes to trade for necessities, such as salt and cacao, and helped spread their culture (Doc A). The remains of the strong buildings built by the Mayans proved they were one of the “greatest preindustrial cultures of the world” in their time (Doc B). The accuracy and time measurements of their calendars were better than any other, and allowed them to predict the weather and

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Cuneiform was a system of writing created in Mesopotamia around 3,000 BCE. Scribes used a reed to make “wedge shaped” indentations on a clay tablet. Cuneiform started as way of keeping track of business transactions but was later used to create alphabets for the languages spoken in Ancient Mesopotamia. The Code of Hammurabi (discussed later) was written in cuneiform.

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To began, the ancient civilization of the Mesopotamian invented cuneiform. Cuneiform was the first written developed by the Sumerians over 5000 years ago (Doc. 1). That is one of the most important inventions in the world. That paved the way for writing in the future. The used cuneiform to keep records , document, business dealings , barley and to pass down new ideas

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For numbers they used a decimal system. They did not have numerals for 2 - 9 or zero. They just had numbers for factors of 10 such as 1, 10, 100, etc. In order to write the number 3 they would write down three number 1s. To write the number 40, they would write down four number

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Breaking the Maya Code is a one hour fifty-six minute video directed by David LeBrun on the decipherment of the ancient Mayan hieroglyphic script. The documentary gives a good introduction and overview of the ancient Maya and the mystery of their hieroglyphic script for those unfamiliar. The Mayan scribes arranged glyphs in double columns from left to right and top to bottom starting with each glyph one sign to combining several dozen into one single sign. Two signs could fuse together, written in abstract form or tucked inside another sign or hidden partway behind it. Signs even included full figures.

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They could make them into anything. But the Aztecs did not have any form of writing or math. Instead to pass messages they would have runners that memorized what they were told and then they would tell that to the person that they were delivering the letter to. The Inca were similar to the maya in the way that they had there own form of writing. But the Inca’s form of writing was different from the mayans.

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There happens to be “various categories of cuneiform documents,-administrative, legal, epistolary, historiography, literary and scholarly.” (Cooper, pages 78-80). Just like other ancient methods and our writings today the Sumerians were able to use their writing method to record events and follow astronomy. The symbols cuneiform writing used represented sound first and concept second. Cuneiform is only understood by few, at one point around 1,000 A.D., it’s told it had become extinct.

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Finally, Math's and science are also one of the achievements the Maya's accomplished. The importance of science and calendar calculations in Mayan society required mathematics and the Maya constructed quite early a very advanced number system. The Maya produced a vast array of structures, and have left an extensive architectural legacy. " Based on its architectural remains, Maya civilization ranks as in of the great preindustrial cultures of the world. "(Document

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Abstract: Mathematics is a great subject that has developed greatly throughout the years. It has been present for a long time and throughout different societies. The American Indians are a group of people with an incredible culture full of amazing facts. Evidence of their work proofs their knowledge and understanding of different mathematical concepts that only makes us admire their culture even more. Such evidence allows us to explore how the American Indians counted and how they displayed mathematical understanding in their earthwork and art.

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Cuneiform symbols underwent even more changes in the next 500 years, including evolving from pictograms to ideograms. The development of ideograms allowed for fewer symbols that could be more easily memorized and practiced. The use of Cuneiform dwindled in the seventh and sixth centuries BCE as other language systems began to spread.

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Inscriptions were made as dedications to the gods or emperors, publications of official documents such as imperial letters and decrees, and, on a smaller scale, the names and titles of rulers minted on coins along with their portraits or the discharge papers, known as military

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The word hieroglyph comes from the Greek hiero ‘holy’ and glypho ‘writing’. Hieroglyphic signs have a four categories. First, Alphabetic signs represent a single sound. Unfortunately the Egyptians took most vowels for granted and did not represent such as ‘e’ or ‘v’. So we may never know how the words were formed.

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The Maya numeral system is one that differs from the systems we studied in class, in that it doesn't use the base 10 system, but rather a base 20. That sparkled my interest to research this number system, used by the Pre-Columbian Maya Civilization. The Mayans used this system in their calendars and in the Dresden Codex, a pre-Columbian Maya book from the 11th/12th Century. This book belonged to the Yucatecan Maya in Chichén Itzá. The original text is believed to be written three or four centuries earlier; the Dresden Codex was just a copy.

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Scenes also feature gylphs, implying the existence of a writing system, albeit one far less varied and sophisticated than that used by the modern Maya. This evidence found in Mayan murals demonstrates that they did, in fact, have a writing system, although somewhat one far less sophisticated than that used by modern Mayans. It also demonstrates how the Olmecs and Mayans were similar because the Mayans adopted the Olmecs' writing system. They were similar because both used writing systems to develop and sophisticate their

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The cuneiform script is categorized as a logophonetic system of writing, or a system that mainly utilized logograms, but also uses phonograms. The use of logograms and phonograms in cuneiform script can be observed as the script evolves. Being the first script, cuneiform has had an enormous impact on language and history. Cuneiform is one of the reasons history, writing, education, law and even taxes exist today (among other things). Since cuneiform is the first script, it is responsible for almost all the other scripts of all time (not hieroglyphs though, they were thought to have been created with no knowledge of cuneiform).

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