How do you write 666 in syriac?

[Rumtaya]

Hey anyone any idea how to write 666 with syriac letters? As we do not have the numbers that are used in europe, but use more our letters as numbers. so any idea how to make up the 666?


Here is a table of the letters and their number attached to it:

http://www.nasranifoundation.org/articles/images/East-SyriacAlphabets.gif

6 = wow

60 = smkath

600 = ???

looking forward to get some enlightment on that matter

 

[Carlo]

The easiest way to convey the number would probably just be writing it out: ????? ????? ???? (shethmaa wa-shteen wa-shtaa, masculine) or ????? ????? ??? (shethmaa wa-shteen w-sheth, feminine).

If you're using numerals, there's more than one way to write it because numerical systems varied over time and usage. Most numbers under 400 require using addition and numbers over 400 can be achieved through addition and, for really big numbers, multiplication. To get "600":

• Using multiplication: put a dot, which multiplies the number by ten, over semkath: ????, so 60 x 10 + 60 + 6 = 666.
• Using addition: have a taw followed by a resh: ????, so 400 + 200 + 60 + 6 = 666.

There might be other ways to write it, too. Also, a horizontal line stretching above the entire numeral is often written to distinguish it from a regular word.

As a side note, "666" is probably a codeword used in the Book of Revelation for the Roman Emperor Nero (who persecuted Christians). "Emperor Nero" spelled out in Hebrew/Aramaic is ???? ??? (Neron Qesar), so noon (50) + resh (200) + waw (6) + noon (50) + qoph (100) + semkath (60) + resh (200) = 666. It wouldn't be the normal way to write "666" since you have to put larger numbers first and probably wouldn't need to use so much addition of smaller numbers, but there you have it.

 

[mrzurnaci]

The easiest way to convey the number would probably just be writing it out: ????? ????? ???? (shethmaa wa-shteen wa-shtaa, masculine) or ????? ????? ??? (shethmaa wa-shteen w-sheth, feminine).

If you're using numerals, there's more than one way to write it because numerical systems varied over time and usage. Most numbers under 400 require using addition and numbers over 400 can be achieved through addition and, for really big numbers, multiplication. To get "600":

• Using multiplication: put a dot, which multiplies the number by ten, over semkath: ????, so 60 x 10 + 60 + 6 = 666.
• Using addition: have a taw followed by a resh: ????, so 400 + 200 + 60 + 6 = 666.

There might be other ways to write it, too. Also, a horizontal line stretching above the entire numeral is often written to distinguish it from a regular word.

As a side note, "666" is probably a codeword used in the Book of Revelation for the Roman Emperor Nero (who persecuted Christians). "Emperor Nero" spelled out in Hebrew/Aramaic is ???? ??? (Neron Qesar), so noon (50) + resh (200) + waw (6) + noon (50) + qoph (100) + semkath (60) + resh (200) = 666. It wouldn't be the normal way to write "666" since you have to put larger numbers first and probably wouldn't need to use so much addition of smaller numbers, but there you have it.

what's the standard or common way to do numbers, also, how does one put a number into million or billion?

also whats the letter for zero?

 

[Carlo]

what's the standard or common way to do numbers?

There is none. What was considered "standard" probably varied from time to time, place to place, and person to person.

also, how does one put a number into million or billion? . . . also whats the letter for zero?

The ancients didn't really have a need for counting that high, so examples of "million" or "billion" are pretty rare. Read this article for more insight.

As for "zero," it's a very weird number that isn't even considered a number by many ancient cultures, so it doesn't have a sign. Even the name for it in the modern language, ceepar, is derived from Arabic cifr.

 

[mrzurnaci]

There is none. What was considered "standard" probably varied from time to time, place to place, and person to person.

The ancients didn't really have a need for counting that high, so examples of "million" or "billion" are pretty rare. Read this article for more insight.

As for "zero," it's a very weird number that isn't even considered a number by many ancient cultures, so it doesn't have a sign. Even the name for it in the modern language, ceepar, is derived from Arabic cifr.

according to the etymology of cifr Arabic, it's supposedly means void or empty, not much in terms of number, but considering Aramaic, can we use the unused term ????? "reyqa" as zero for modern since it is no longer in use?

 

[Rumtaya]

thanks guya for the answers. as for counting up 666 in syriac, it seems to be some different possibilities to choose from...i.e. the letters can change, when using different ways of counting up to 600... weathertaking 6*100or 3*200...isnt it?

 

[Carlo]

according to the etymology of cifr Arabic, it's supposedly means void or empty, not much in terms of number, but considering Aramaic, can we use the unused term ????? "reyqa" as zero for modern since it is no longer in use?

You can use/invent whatever words/meanings you like, and everybody else can not understand you.

thanks guya for the answers. as for counting up 666 in syriac, it seems to be some different possibilities to choose from...i.e. the letters can change, when using different ways of counting up to 600... weathertaking 6*100or 3*200...isnt it?

I don't know if you can multiply numerals by 6 or 3, I think 10 is the lowest.

 

[Liisa]

Let me post a few additional links.  Some of these have real big numbers:

Alan Aldawood, Level 2, Lesson 23.
Compendious Syriac grammar, Appendix
The principles of Syriac grammar ?9
Grammaticae syriacae ?8 (Latin)
Trait? de grammaire syriaque ?17 (French)

According to some of those links, one way to write 10,000, 20,000, ..., 9,000,000 is to add a macron-below to 1, 2, 3, ..., 900, respectively.  E.g. [font=East Syriac Adiabene, ES Nohadra, East Syriac Ctesiphon]??[/font] is 10,000, [font=East Syriac Adiabene, ES Nohadra, East Syriac Ctesiphon]??[/font] is 20,000, etc.
If you add circumflex-below instead, you'll get 10,000,000, 20,000,000, ..., 9,000,000,000, at least in theory. E.g. [font=East Syriac Adiabene, ES Nohadra, East Syriac Ctesiphon]??[/font] is 10,000,000, [font=East Syriac Adiabene, ES Nohadra, East Syriac Ctesiphon]??[/font] is 20,000,000, etc.  That's what is written anyway.