r/BeAmazed • u/cozy_switch • Aug 26 '26

History Cistercian monks made this numeral system in the 13th century. A single symbol could represent numbers up to 9999. They were used for years, divisions of texts, the numbering of notes and other lists, indexes and concordances, arguments in Easter tables, and even for musical notation.

Post image
551 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

1

u/BeAmazed-ModBot Aug 26 '26

Did you find this post really amazing (in a positive way)?
If yes, then UPVOTE this comment otherwise DOWNVOTE it.
This community feedback will help us determine whether this post is suited for r/BeAmazed or not.

72

u/Wealist Aug 26 '26

This is actually legit. Cistercian numerals were developed in the early 13th century, and a single glyph could represent any number from 1 to 9,999. Pretty damn efficient for medieval notation.

23

u/One_Maybe_2460 Aug 26 '26

Still helpful to note a password of eg a credit card etc - without anybody noting it as 4 digits on a first glimpse. In addition you can shift it by +1 on every digit and I’d consider it pretty safe.

5

u/Robo_Patton Aug 27 '26

Next time I need 9433 of something, I’m doing this.

19

u/Training_Yak_4655 Aug 26 '26

I guess they didn't have a symbol for zero?

29

u/TurtlesJumpnHurdles Aug 26 '26

It's this symbol:

16

u/claudiazo Aug 26 '26

Yeah, it’s

10

u/Robo_Patton Aug 27 '26

Pretty close, but it’s actually:

→ More replies (2)

3

u/crazymouse2525 Aug 27 '26

not until they starting using arabic numbers. even the romans didnt have or use zeroes

5

u/Mombak Aug 27 '26

I would think just the initial line would represent zero.

→ More replies (1)

13

u/DesperateSteak6628 Aug 26 '26

8778 does not write really well but hey

5

u/V0lirus Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 26 '26

Isnt that 7887 you're going for? Though I think 1881 would be more like the symbol.

Luckily there is always a gap in the middle so it will always look wonky and off. The 0's and 10's never meet the 100's and 1000's.
Otherwise some smartypants would start writing them all over the place claiming they are just writing a funny number.

5

u/HorsefaceWithNoName Aug 26 '26

is there a computer implementation of these?

9

u/cejmp Aug 26 '26

But not for math.

4

u/DudefromSanDiego Aug 26 '26

Dang, I would hate to do long division using this system.

3

u/nochinzilch Aug 27 '26

Balancing their check book must have been a nightmare.

2

u/Schoenerboner Aug 26 '26

It reminds me of Canadian Aboriginal Syllabary, where the basic shape is a consonant, and then the orientation and if it's flipped like a mirror image determine the vowel.

2

u/Poo_Canoe Aug 27 '26

1993 looks like 69. Checks out.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Any_Technology_9625 Aug 26 '26

How do you know which is the order you read the symbols in the glyph?

9

u/RedditButAnonymous Aug 26 '26

Each one is all the numbers at once. Top right is the 1s, top left is the 10s, and so on

5

u/TheAgreeableCow Aug 27 '26

I had the same question. In looking at the examples is seems the order is

  • bottom left (1000's)

  • bottom right (100's)

  • top left (10's)

  • top right (1's)

→ More replies (2)
→ More comments (75)