[expand]Numbers were recorded not with numerals but with notches and patterns.
Tally Marks:
Simple vertical lines carved in groups represented counting. Five items might be four vertical lines crossed by a diagonal (creating a gate shape), a system identical to modern tally marks. These appeared on storage containers (recording quantity), on debt sticks (recording obligations), and on tribute markers (recording payments).
Sacred Numbers:
Certain numbers had sacred significance and received special glyphs:
- Three: Represented by three dots arranged in a triangle. Three was sacred (the triple goddess, the three worlds, the three phases of life—birth, maturity, death).
- Seven: Represented by a six-pointed star with a central dot. Seven was powerful (seven days, seven sacred herbs, seven generations).
- Twelve: Represented by a circle divided into twelve segments. Twelve was the year’s structure (twelve months, twelve lunar cycles).
These sacred number glyphs appeared on ritual objects, ensuring that the object carried the number’s inherent power.
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