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Greek number systems

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Ian Nottingham
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« on: June 09, 2012, 12:47:15 am »

This acrophonic system was used for more than money. A very similar system was also used in dealing with weights and measures which is not surprising since the value of money would certainly have evolved from a system of weights. This is confirmed by the fact that the drachma was also the name of the unit of weight.

We now look at a second ancient Greek number system, the alphabetical numerals, or as it is sometimes called, the 'learned' system. As the name 'alphabetical' suggests the numerals are based on giving values to the letters of the alphabet. It is worth noting that the Greeks were one of the first to adopt a system of writing based on an alphabet. They were not the inventors of this form of writing, for the Phoenicians had such a system in place first. The Greek alphabet used to write words was taken over from the Phoenician system and was quite close to it. We will not examine the forms of the Greek letters themselves, but it is certainly worth stressing how important this form of writing was to be in advancing knowledge. It is fundamental to our ways of communicating in most countries today, although some peoples do prefer to use other forms of writing.

There are 24 letters in the classical Greek alphabet and these were used together with 3 older letters which have fallen out of use. These 27 letters are


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