The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c9.32

c9.32

The question of the possible influence of the Egyptian demotic and hieratic ordinal forms has been so often suggested that it seems well to introduce them at this point, for comparison with the ġobār forms. They would as appropriately be used in connection with the Hindu forms, and the evidence of a relation of the first three with all these systems is apparent. The only further resemblance is in the Demotic 4 and in the 9, so that the statement that the Hindu forms in general came from this source has no foundation. The first four Egyptian cardinal numerals¹ resemble more the modern Arabic.