The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c9.122

c9.122

As to the Arabs, it is a mistake to feel that their activities began with Mohammed. Commerce had always been held in honor by them, and the Qoreish³ had annually for many generations sent caravans bearing the spices and textiles of Yemen to the shores of the Mediterranean. In the fifth century they traded by sea with India and even with China, and Hira was an emporium for the wares of the East,⁴ so that any numeral system of any part of the trading world could hardly have remained isolated.