Prior to this article, we presented the first theory on the
numbers in Facsimile 2, Figure 11, which was an attempt to primarily link up
the Egyptian uniliteral (single-consonantal) letters to the Hebrew and Greek
number system. This one is a separate
theory from that. This follows some of
the other theories on this blog regarding Egyptian word games like puns,
etc. The Egyptians also had a system of
numbers that was based on number-word puzzles.
As Georges Ifrah, an important scholar on numbers has
observed:
Egyptian carvers, especially in the
later periods, indulged in all sorts of puns and learned word-games, most
notably in the inscriptions on the temples of Edfu and Dendara. Some of these word-games involve the names of
the numbers . . . (The Universal History
of Numbers, p. 176).
Then, on that page and the following, Ifrah shows how he has
created a table based on the work of P. Barguet, H. W. Fairmain, J. C. Goyon
and C. de Wit, of the inscriptions from the walls of the temples of Edfu and
Dendara (Dendera). We will review here
the information in this table and comment on them, to extract the principles in
each entry in the table.
But first, we will quote something else that we had quoted
in a previous article. Professor Scott
B. Noegel, Chair, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at the
University of Washington tell writes:
("On Puns and Divination: Egyptian Dream Exegesis from
a Comparative Perspective,"
http://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/PDFs/articles/Noegel%2045%20TGD%202006.pdf). Here is Gardiner’s sign list, I12, used to
represent the Uraeus (Greek), or Iaret, the Cobra:
As we see, the Egyptian word
w’t.w means Uraeus (Cobra), but
was associated by pun with the word wa’,(w’.w) meaning the number one. So, it is quite possible that Cobra/Uraeus
was used symbol for the number one by way of this pun. Other evidence for this is from the Rosetta
Stone, where not only the uraeus is associated with the number one through a
pun, but also the hieroglyph for the picture of the harpoon, another symbol for
one:
In the 198 BC Rosetta Stone of
Ptolemy V Epiphanes, the harpoon hieroglyph is used only once, in line 8:
"crowns, 10...with uraeus on their fronts, on one every among
them."—("on each among them"). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpoon_(hieroglyph))
As Ifrah mentions in his table on pages 176-177 of the book Universal History of Numbers, the
harpoon symbol is this:
It is Gardiner’s sign list T20, stands
for the number one, through the principle of homophony, or identical-sounding words, because both the number
one, and the harpoon, are pronounced wa’. This means that the harpoon now becomes a
suitable symbol for the number one, and can be swapped out or substituted for
the conventional symbol for one.
Above is the Egyptian sun symbol, which is Gardiner’s sign list N5, also
stands for the number one, according to Ifrah, because there is only one sun. The singularity and uniqueness of this fact, makes it a suitable symbol for the number.
All of these are variants of the moon hieroglyph, numbered N9, N10, N11, N12 in Gardiner's sign list. As Ifrah writes, these stand for the number one,
similar to the sun symbols, according to Ifrah, because there is only one moon. Again, it is because of the singularity and uniqueness of this fact.
According to Ifrah, the symbol above for the fraction 1/30 (one
thirtieth) is used to mean the number one
in the phrase “one day” or “the first day.”
And so, this is because of the fact that there are 30 days in a month for the Egyptians. And so, for a phrase where the context is
about days, the usage makes sense.
Ifrah says that the “Jubilaeum” above, or Gardiner’s sign
list W4 is a determinative for hb, or Heb, meaning “feast,”or the “feast of the first of the year,” the Heb Sed, known as the “feast of the
tail.” The W4 hieroglyph is a
combination of two other hieroglyphs. The first is W3, the alabaster basin:
This is also pronounced hb for the festival. The next piece is O22, a booth supported by a pole:
W4, the Jubilaeum, stands for the number 4. Ifrah says there is no known explanation as
to why. However, there may be a clue in
the ritual race of the festival. As we
noted before, it means the “feast of the tail.”
In the race the Pharaoh would wear a kilt with a bull’s tail attached to
the back of it. And he would run this
ritual race alongside of the Apis bull four times as the ruler of upper Egypt
and four times as the ruler of lower Egypt.
Therefore, this numerology is probably as a result of this fact about
the race. Therefore, the principle here
is probably an attribute of the race/ritual
was drawn upon as why these symbols symbolized the number.
The above, which is Gardiner’s N14 is the
hieroglyph for star, has 5 points, so it stands for the number 5. In this case, Ifrah says it is “self-evident”
why this is the number 5. The principle
here is that a visual attribute of the
symbol is the key to the number it represents, in this case, the number of
points.
The human head, which is Gardiner’s D1, stands for the number 7, because, according to Ifrah, it has seven orifices: “two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, mouth.” So, the principle here is that an attribute of the symbol (in this case
the number of orifices) is used as the key to which number it represents, much
like in the case of the 5 pointed star.
Above is the Ibis (Gardiners G25), was the
symbol for the god Thoth, who was the principal god of Hermopolis, known in the
Egyptian language as Khmnw or Khemenu, which means “city of eight.” The number 8 is khemen. So the principle here is an association
between the symbol for the god and the name of the city. It is an attribute
of the mythology of the symbol that ties it to the city.
This looks like two hooks, and stands for the
number 8. In hieratic, the number 8
looks like this:
This is numbered as Moeller
621. As for the hieroglyph that looks
like two hooks, it is evident, as Ifrah writes, that it is a “curious
‘re-formation’ in hieroglyphics of the hieratic numeral 8.” In other words, they created this
hieroglyphic from the form of the hieratic numeral. The principle here, is that the hieroglyph as
a visual similarity or affinity or association
with the hieratic numeral. This is an
idea is pretty similar to the definition of to a visual pun.
Above is Gardiner’s sign list N8, which
stands for the sun and its rays. It
means “shining” or “to shine.” This is
pronounced psd, just as the number 9
is pronounced psd. The principle here again is homophony between the word to shine and
the name of the number.
Above are Gardiner’s sign list numbers U1
and U2, are the sickle or scythe. Here
are some of the forms of the hieratic number nine:
This is numbered as Moeller 622. As Ifrah writes, it is “Based on the fact
that in hieratic, the numeral 9 and the sign for scythe were identical.” As in the case of the number 8, here it is visual similarity or affinity between signs
that is the key. Once again, this is
like a visual pun.
Above is Gardiner’s sign list G5, which
is pronounced hrw or “Horus.” This
stands for the number 10. This is
because, as Ifrah says, “the falcon-god Horus was the first to be added to the
original nine deities of Heliopolis, and thus represents 10.” It is tied to an attribute of the mythology of the gods of Heliopolis, as the use of
the Ibis as a number is tied to the mythology of Hermopolis.
Different combinations of symbols such as two harpoons can
mathematically equal the number two. Or
the combination of a sun and moon can mean the number two. Or the combination of three harpoons can mean
the number three. And so on and so
forth.
The point of all this is that we can see that this type of punnish number/word/symbol game is in line with the same type of creativity or mental games found in Ptolemaic hieroglyphics of the Greco-Roman era. We can expect the system used in Facsimile #2, figure 11 to use some type of system like this. Future articles may attempt to ascertain what the exact system or method is in use in Facsimile #2 for these numbers. The purpose of this current article was only to establish a mental framework for this thing, and to demonstrate that indeed, not only are the typical numbers in Egyptian the only symbols used for numbers.
