The following numerals: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9, were
invented by the Nubians and Egyptians.
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| Modern day mathematics does owe its existence from Egypt. Credit: IBTimes UK |
The system of ancient Egyptian numerals was used in Ancient
Egypt from around 3000 BC until the early first millennium AD. It was a system
of numeration based on multiples of ten, often rounded off to the higher power,
written in hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs are little pictures representing words.
The Egyptians had no concept of a place-valued system such
as the decimal system. They had a bases 10 system of hieroglyphs for numerals.
By this we mean that they have separate symbols for one unit, one ten, one
hundred, one thousand, one ten thousand, one hundred thousand, and one million.
Though the Egyptian number system was unwieldy, it has to be accepted that they were one of the ancient civilisations who created wonders with numbers.
The hieroglyphs did not remain the same throughout the two
thousand or so years of the ancient Egyptian civilisation. This civilisation is
often broken down into three distinct periods:
- Old Kingdom - around 2700 BC to 2200 BC
- Middle Kingdom - around 2100 BC to 1700 BC
- New Kingdom - around 1600 BC to 1000 BC
Numeral hieroglyphs were somewhat different in these
different periods yet retained a broadly similar style.
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| Hieroglyphs for numerals. Credit: FutureLearn |
Like the hieroglyphs, the hieratic symbols changed over time,
but they underwent more changes with six distinct periods. Initially the
symbols that were used were quite close to the corresponding hieroglyph, but
their form diverged over time.
The only European Numeral system which was as advanced as
the Nubian-Egyptian Numerals, was the Roman Numeral system. Note that the
Romans never had Zero.
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