Thousands of years ago, when humanity began to count, the first systems used rudimentary tools such as marks on sticks, knots in ropes and, of course, the fingers themselves. However, one of the civilizations that developed a more sophisticated and long-lasting numbering system was the Egyptians. Around the third millennium BC, the Egyptians created a numbering system based on hieroglyphics., often considered to be one of the earliest decimal systems.
Next, we will explore in depth the peculiarities of this system, its evolution and the practical applications that the Egyptians made of this knowledge in their daily lives.
The Egyptian hieroglyphic numbering system
Since ancient times, the Egyptians had a need to count and quantify the resources available in their environment. Their numbering system was designed to represent everything from the smallest units to millions. This hieroglyphic-based system used graphic representations of everyday items., such as flowers, strings, and animals, to denote various quantities.
This system did not depend on the position of the symbols, meaning that the value of each symbol was fixed, regardless of its location in the representation. Thus, the Egyptians were able to represent numbers using an additive system.
For example, the number 2419 would require the use of 16 different symbols, two for thousands, four for hundreds, one for tens, and nine for units. A number like 986, which in our modern numbering requires only three digits, required eleven hieroglyphs..
This system had a rigid structure in terms of symbols used for numbering:
- One stroke represented unity.
- A shackle or bow represented the tens.
- A coiled rope, the hundreds.
- One lotus flower, thousands.
- A raised finger represented ten thousands.
- One tadpole, a hundred thousand.
- The god Heh, with his arms raised, symbolized the million.
Usefulness of the numbering system in everyday life and government
The Egyptian numbering system was not only a mathematical tool but a crucial need for state administration. Census taking, tax control, crop planning and even land surveying were all managed using these numerical hieroglyphics. Thanks to this system, the Egyptians were able to control and manage the vast resources of the Nile, such as grain and other crops.
Likewise, offerings to temples and military records, such as the number of prisoners captured or the amounts of war spoils, were accurately documented using this system. For example, in the tomb of Neferyu he is said to have received 1000 libations of water, 1000 loaves of bread, and 1000 of everything else needed for his journey to the afterlife, which was accurately represented by the hieroglyphic number system.
Main features of the Egyptian numbering system
- decimal system: The Egyptian numeral system was decimal, just like our current system. However, unlike the Hindu-Arabic system we use today, it did not use a positional value. This meant that each hieroglyph had a fixed value regardless of its location in the number.
- Additive system: To represent a number, symbols were repeated as many times as necessary. For example, to represent the number 30, three symbols for the tens (a shackle) were used.
- There was no symbol for zero: Originally, the Egyptians did not have a representation for zero. It was only around 1740 BC that they began to use a hieroglyph called nfr to mark the base level of architectural constructions, a concept similar to zero in architecture.
The hieratic system: a more practical evolution
The hieroglyphic system, although functional for small quantities, had problems when representing large numbers. Writing larger numbers required an excessive number of symbols, which made reading and writing difficult. To overcome this problem, the Egyptians developed, around the second millennium BC, a more simplified numerical system called hieratic system.
The hieratic system used symbols that represented units in a more compact way. This allowed them to represent large numbers with fewer symbols. For example, while the number 986 required eleven hieroglyphs in the hieroglyphic system, it would only require four in the hieratic system.
Although this system greatly simplified writing, it required scribes to memorise a greater number of symbols, since each unit, ten, hundred and thousand had a specific symbol. However, the hieratic system was much more efficient and faster when it came to writing and reading large numbers, which made it more popular in everyday life, especially on papyri.
Fractions and their representation in the Egyptian system
One of the most interesting features of the Egyptian number system is that it could also represent fractions. Unlike our modern fractional system, where fractions can be written with any numerator and denominator, the Egyptians only represented fractions whose numerator was one, that is, unit fractions such as 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc.
To represent these fractions, they used a special symbol consisting of a mouth and the hieroglyph for the corresponding denominator. Although this limitation may seem inconvenient, the Egyptians developed complex methods of breaking down more complicated fractions into sums of unit fractions. Fractions played an important role in mathematical calculations related to agriculture, construction, and religious offerings.
The Eye of Horus and fractions
A fascinating variation on the use of fractions in the Egyptian system is their relationship to the Eye of horus. This symbol, associated with protection and health, was also used to represent fractions corresponding to the first powers of 2. The Egyptians represented fractions such as 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and so on, using parts of the Eye of Horus, showing a symbolic connection between numerical representation and Egyptian mythology.
The smallest and least known part of the Egyptian fractions represented in the Eye of Horus was 1/64, which shows the precision with which they performed certain calculations.
Looking at the sophistication of the Egyptian numbering system, one can deduce that its impact was profound, not only in the field of accounting and government, but also in the understanding the numerological and symbolic world of one of the greatest civilizations of antiquity.
This system was a fundamental pillar for the development of Egyptian society, facilitating the control and administration of resources, the construction of grandiose monuments and the organization of vast territories.