Weights and Measures in Hieratic Numbers

In hieratic, multiples of the single unit of volume measurement, the hekat, were notated differently. The hekat or heqat was an ancient Egyptian volume unit used to measure grain, bread, and beer. It equals 4.8 liters in today’s measurements. When dealing with hekats, the single numbers 1-9 were drawn in the normal vertical form, but then they were in front of the hekat glyph, it meant that they were multiplied by 100. For example, the number 2 in the form of two vertical lines in front of the hekat glyph would mean 200 hekats, the number 3 represented by three vertical lines would be 300 hekats, and so on. If the numbers 1-9 followed the hekat symbol, then they were multiplied by 10 instead of 100. A notation like “2 hekat 3” would be “230 hekats, for example. Since the normal vertical lines for the numbers now indicated a multiple, the regular numbers were represented by dots instead of vertical lines and would follow the hekat glyph. So a notation like “hekat . . . “ would mean 3 hekats.

2. Palestinian/Hebrew Hieratic Systems

In the ninth century BC, the Egyptian scribal tradition was adopted by the ancient Israelites, including the hieratic script and numerals. The Israelites incorporated a great deal of Egyptian learning into their own thought (Chrisomalis 2010, 50), which is consistent with Nephi’s statement that his record was made “in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 1:2). Like the hieratic, the ancient Hebrew number system was cumulative additive, with a multiplication element for the larger numbers. The sequence was also left to right, with larger numbers to the right proceeding to smaller numbers on the left (Wimmer, 2008, 196). The use of hieratic numbers continued until the Babylonian exile (which Lehi escaped); when the Israelites returned, they adopted a totally different system of numerals based on the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.