Alphabetic numeral system
An alphabetic numeral system is a type of numeral system. Developed in classical antiquity, it flourished during the early Middle Ages. In alphabetic numeral systems, numbers are written using the characters of an alphabet, syllabary, or another writing system. Unlike acrophonic numeral systems, where a numeral is represented by the first letter of the lexical name of the numeral, alphabetic numeral systems can arbitrarily assign letters to numerical values. Some systems, including the Arabic, Georgian and Hebrew systems, use an already established alphabetical order. Alphabetic numeral systems originated with Greek numerals around 600 BC and became largely extinct by the 16th century. After the development of positional numeral systems like Hindu–Arabic numerals, the use of alphabetic numeral systems dwindled to predominantly ordered lists, pagination, religious functions, and divinatory magic.
Example of the early Greek symbol for zero (lower right corner) from a 2nd-century papyrus
The system of Hebrew numerals is a quasi-decimal alphabetic numeral system using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
The system was adapted from that of the Greek numerals sometime between 200 and 78 BCE, the latter being the date of the earliest archeological evidence.
The lower clock on the Jewish Town Hall building in Prague, with Hebrew numerals in counterclockwise order
Early 20th century pocket watches with Hebrew numerals in clockwise order (Jewish Museum, Berlin)
A tombstone from 1935 in Baiersdorf, Germany, reading: נפטר ביום כׄ אייר ונקבר ביום כׄגׄ אייר שנת תׄרׄצׄהׄ לפׄק In English: Passed away on day 20 Iyar And buried on day 23 Iyar Year 695 without the thousands [i.e. year 5695] Note the dots above each letter in each number.