Everything about The Etruscan Numerals totally explained
The
Etruscan numerals were used by the ancient
Etruscans. The system was adapted from the Greek
Attic numerals and formed the inspiration for the later
Roman numerals.
| Etruscan |
Decimal |
Symbol * |
| θu |
1 |
I |
| maχ |
5 |
Λ |
| śar |
10 |
X |
| muvalχ |
50 |
↑ |
| ? |
100 |
C or Ж |
(* approximate shape of the symbols, because these are not included in the standard set available on the computer. In addition, a second shape used for 100 is an X with a vertical line going through its center - the symbol for 50 is the bottom half of it)
There is very little surviving evidence of these numerals. Examples are known of the symbols for larger numbers, but it's unknown which symbol represents which number.
Thanks to the numbers written out on the
Tuscania dice, there's agreement about the fact that
zal,
ci,
huθ and
śa are the numbers up to 6 (besides 1 and 5). The assignment depends on the answer to the question whether the numbers on opposite faces on Etruscan dice add up to seven, like nowadays. It is a fact that some dice found don't show this proposed pattern.
An interesting aspect of the Etruscan
numeral system is that some numbers, like in the Roman system, are represented as partial subtractions. So "17" isn't written *semφ-śar as users of the
Hindu-Arabic (Western) numeral system might reason. We instead find
-- literally, "three away from twenty". The numbers 17, 18 and 19 are all written in this way.
The general consensus
Despite the continuing debate specifically about which of and <śa> are "four" and "six", the general agreement among Etruscologists nowadays is now the following:
| Etruscan |
Decimal |
| θu |
one |
| zal |
two |
| ci |
three |
| huθ |
four |
| maχ |
five |
| śa |
six |
| semφ |
seven |
| cezp |
eight |
| nurφ |
nine |
| śar |
ten |
| *θuśar |
eleven |
| *zalśar |
twelve |
| *ciśar |
thirteen |
| huθzar |
fourteen |
| *maχśar |
fifteen |
| *śaśar |
sixteen |
| ciem zaθrum |
seventeen |
| eslem zaθrum |
eighteen |
| θunem zaθrum |
nineteen |
| zaθrum |
20 |
| cealχ |
30 |
| *huθalχ |
40 |
| muvalχ |
50 |
| śealχ |
60 |
| semφalχ |
70 |
| cezpalχ |
80 |
| *nurφalχ |
90 |
Note. Recently (2006) S. A. Yatsemirsky (PDF
) has presented evidence that zar = śar meant ‘12’ (cf. zal ‘2’ and zaθrum ‘20’) while halχ meant ‘10’. According to his interpretation the attested form huθzar was used for ‘sixteen’, not ‘fourteen’.
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