Egyptian NumbersAncient Egyptian numbers were put in quite a practical system. They were represented in multiples of 10, and there were 7 signs used for them. The signs are the single stroke, the heel, the coil of rope, the lotus flower, the tadpole, and the man with arms raised.Here they are respectively:
Here is an example of some numbers:
Here it is shown in both directions:
For example, if the writing is pointing to the right, and the feet were also pointing to the right, that would signify addition. But if the writing direction is towards the right and the feet point to the left, then that would signify subtraction.
Ancient Egyptian FractionsPlacing this sign: r
Before or above a number would mean that this number is the fractional number. For example:
Fractions with a number greater than 1 at the top were quite complicated. The ancient Egyptians would link a few fractions together to add up to the fraction they are trying to represent. I am not really good at math, so I had to copy this example straight out of a book because I couldn't come up with one on my own! So here is the example: to represent the fraction 3/7, they would put the equation 1/4 + 1/7 + 1/28, which would then equal 7/28 + 4/28 + 1/28 which is equal to 3/7. Any math whiz out there that can help clarify this or come up with something similar is more than appreciated to give me some input! Another method was the Horus Eye System. This is what it would look like:
This system was mainly used to divide grain quantities. This system started to be in use after 1200 BC in the hieratic script. Prior to that, it was all in hieroglyphs and in the method I mentioned earlier.
Measuring Dimensions in Ancient EgyptAncient Egyptians measured dimensions using the palms of their hands. Each palm was about 4 fingers wide, each finger being about 3/4 of an inch. A palm was considered to be about 3 inches wide.Larger measurements were done in something called "cubits" in English. A cubit was roughly the length from elbow to fingertips, measuring about 7 palms.
Egyptian Numerals in HieroglyphsThere were hieroglyphs used to represent "number" words - like we do today by writing the word fifty instead of writing the numerals 50.Also, for plurals, ancient Egyptian numbers were sometimes added after a word in order to indicate the number of this plural word.
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