Etruscan numerals

The Etruscan number symbols may have been based on the Greek Attic numerals. However, other hypotheses have been advanced.

An older theory, advanced by Th. Mommsen in 1887 and echoed by A. Hooper, is that the symbols for 1, 5, and 10 originated as representations of hand gestures for counting.

In that theory, the early inhabitants of the region counted from 1 to 4 by extending the same number of long fingers (index to little); gestures that were represented in writing by "𐌠", "𐌠𐌠", "𐌠𐌠𐌠", "𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠". The count of 5 was signaled by extending those 4 fingers plus the thumb; and the written symbol "𐌡" is then meant to depict that hand, with the thumb out to the side. The numbers 6 to 9 then would be signaled by one fully open hand and 1 to 4 long fingers extended in the other; which would be depicted as "𐌡𐌠", "𐌡𐌠𐌠", "𐌡𐌠𐌠𐌠", "𐌡𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠". Finally 10 would be signaled by two hands with all fingers and thumbs extended; which, in writing, would be represented by the upper and lower halves of the symbol "𐌢".[3][4]

Another hypothesis, which seems to be more accepted today, is that the Etrusco-Roman numerals actually derive from notches on tally sticks, which continued to be used by Italian and Dalmatian shepherds into the 19th century.[5][1] Unfortunately, being made of perishable wood, no tally sticks have (or would have) survived from that period.[1]

In that system, each unit counted would be recorded as a notch cut across the stick. Every fifth notch was double cut, i.e. "𐌡" and every tenth was cross cut, "𐌢"; much like European tally marks today. Then a count of '28' would look like

𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌡𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌢𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌡𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌢𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌡𐌠𐌠𐌠

When transposing the final count to writing (or to another stick), it was obviously unnecessary to copy each "𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠Λ𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠" before a "𐌢", or each "𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠" before a Λ. So the count of '28' would be written down as simply "𐌢𐌢𐌡𐌠𐌠𐌠".

There has been a longstanding controversy about the assignment of 4 and 6. All Etruscologists agree that the words are huθ (hut^h) and śa (sha). The disagreement is about which is which.

Until recently, it was generally accepted, based on archaeological evidence, that 4 was huθ and 6 was śa. For instance, in the frescos of the Tomb of the Charons in the Monterozzi necropolis, on a hill east of Tarquinia, four Charons are represented, each one accompanied by an inscription: Next to the fourth Charon, the text reads charun huths ("the fourth Charon"). In the same necropolis, in the Tomb of the Anina, which contains six burial places, an inscription reads: sa suthi cherichunce, which has been translated as: "he built six tombs/sepulchres".[7]

However, that assignment was challenged in 2011 by a thorough analysis of 91 Etruscan gambling dice, from many different ages and locations, with numbers marked by dots ("pips"); and a lone pair of dice (the "Tuscany dice") with the numbers written out as words.[8]

Mathematically, there are 30 ways to place the numbers 1-6 on the faces of a die; or 15 if one counts together numberings that are mirror images of each other. These 15 possibilities are identified by the pairs of numbers that occur on opposite faces:

(1-2, 3-4, 5-6), (1-2, 3-5, 4-6), (1-2, 3-6, 4-5),

(1-3, 2-4, 5-6), (1-3, 2-5, 4-6), (1-3, 2-6, 4-5),

(1-4, 2-3, 5-6), (1-4, 2-5, 3-6), (1-4, 2-6, 3-5),

(1-5, 2-3, 4-6), (1-5, 2-4, 3-6), (1-5, 2-6, 3-4),

(1-6, 2-3, 4-5), (1-6, 2-4, 3-5), (1-6, 2-5, 3-4)

For unknown reasons, Roman dice generally used the last pattern, (1-6, 2-5, 3-4), in which every pair of opposite faces adds to 7; a tradition that continued in Europe to the present day, and has become the standard all over the world. However, among the 91 Etruscan dice from may different locations, those from 500 BCE or earlier used only the first pattern, (1-2, 3-4, 5-6), in which the opposite faces differ by 1. Those from 350 BCE and later, on the other hand, used the Roman (1-6, 2-5, 3-4) pattern. Between 500 and 350 BCE, the latter gradually replaced the former at all Etruscan sites covered.[8]

On the Tuscany dice, the opposite faces carry the words (θu–huθ, zal–maχ, ci-śa). In both the "old" and "new" patterns, however, the values 3 and 4 lie on opposite faces. Thus, since ci was known to be 3, the researchers concluded that śa must be 4; and since there is no dissent about the words for 1, 2, and 5, huθ had to be 6.[8]

That assignment would imply that the Tuscany dice follow the pattern (1-6, 2-5, 3-4); that is, they are of the "late" (Roman) type. The researchers claim that this assignment is consistent with the shape of the letters, that indicate a date later than 400 BCE.[8]

The opposite assignment (4 = huθ, 6 = śa) would make the pattern of the Tuscany dice be (1-4, 2-5, 3-6); that is, with numbers on opposite faces being 3 apart. No other Etruscan die has been found with that pattern (or with words instead of pips, for that matter).

In 2006, S. A. Yatsemirsky presented evidence that zar or śar meant ‘12’ (cf. zal ‘2’ and zaθrum ‘20’) while halχ meant ‘10’. According to his interpretation, the attested form huθzar was used for ‘sixteen’, not ‘fourteen’, assuming huθ meant four.[6]

Much debate has been carried out about a possible Indo-European origin of the Etruscan number words.

L. Bonfante (1990) claimed that what the numerals "show, beyond any shadow of a doubt, is the non-Indo-European nature of the Etruscan language".[9]

Conversely, other scholars, including F. Adrados, A. Carnoy, M. Durante, V. Georgiev, A. Morandi and M. Pittau, have proposed a close phonetic proximity of the first ten Etruscan numerals to the corresponding numerals in other Indo-European languages.[10][11] According to the latter, "all the first ten Etruscan numerals have a congruent phonetic matching in as many Indo-European languages" and "perfectly fit within the Indo-European series", supporting the idea that the Etruscan language was of Indo-European origins.[12]