System used by the ancient Mayan civilization to represent numbers and dates
Maya numerals
400s
20s
1s
33
429
5125
Part of a series on
Numeral systems
Place-value notation
Hindu–Arabic numerals
Western Arabic
Eastern Arabic
Bengali
Devanagari
Gujarati
Gurmukhi
Odia
Sinhala
Tamil
Malayalam
Telugu
Kannada
Dzongkha
Tibetan
Balinese
Burmese
Javanese
Khmer
Lao
Mongolian
Sundanese
Thai
East Asian systems
Contemporary
Chinese
Suzhou
Hokkien
Japanese
Korean
Vietnamese
Historic
Counting rods
Tangut
Other systems
History
Ancient
Babylonian
Post-classical
Cistercian
Mayan
Muisca
Pentadic
Quipu
Rumi
Contemporary
Cherokee
Kaktovik (Iñupiaq)
By radix/base
Common radices/bases
2
3
4
5
6
8
10
12
16
20
60
(table)
Non-standard radices/bases
Bijective(1)
Signed-digit(balanced ternary)
Mixed(factorial)
Negative
Complex(2i)
Non-integer(φ)
Asymmetric
Sign-value notation
Non-alphabetic
Aegean
Attic
Aztec
Brahmi
Chuvash
Egyptian
Etruscan
Kharosthi
Prehistoric counting
Proto-cuneiform
Roman
Tally marks
Alphabetic
Abjad
Armenian
Alphasyllabic
Akṣarapallī
Āryabhaṭa
Kaṭapayādi
Coptic
Cyrillic
Geʽez
Georgian
Glagolitic
Greek
Hebrew
List of numeral systems
v
t
e
The Mayan numeral system was the system to represent numbers and calendar dates in the Maya civilization. It was a vigesimal (base-20) positional numeral system. The numerals are made up of three symbols: zero (a shell),[citation needed] one (a dot) and five (a bar). For example, thirteen is written as three dots in a horizontal row above two horizontal bars; sometimes it is also written as three vertical dots to the left of two vertical bars. With these three symbols, each of the twenty vigesimal digits could be written.
Numbers after 19 were written vertically in powers of twenty. The Mayan used powers of twenty, just as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system uses powers of ten.[1]
For example, thirty-three would be written as one dot, above three dots atop two bars. The first dot represents "one twenty" or "1×20", which is added to three dots and two bars, or thirteen. Therefore, (1×20) + 13 = 33.
(1×20)
+
13
=
33
Upon reaching 202 or 400, another row is started (203 or 8000, then 204 or 160,000, and so on). The number 429 would be written as one dot above one dot above four dots and a bar, or (1×202) + (1×201) + 9 = 429.
(1×202)
+
(1×201)
+
9
=
429
Other than the bar and dot notation, Maya numerals were sometimes illustrated by face type glyphs or pictures. The face glyph for a number represents the deity associated with the number. These face number glyphs were rarely used, and are mostly seen on some of the most elaborate monumental carvings.
Section of page 43b of the Dresden Codex showing the different representations of zero.
There are different representations of zero in the Dresden Codex, as can be seen at page 43b (which is concerned with the synodic cycle of Mars).[2] It has been suggested that these pointed, oblong "shell" representations are calligraphic variants of the PET logogram, approximately meaning "circular" or "rounded", and perhaps the basis of a derived noun meaning "totality" or "grouping", such that the representations may be an appropriate marker for a number position which has reached its totality.[3]
^Saxakali (1997). "Mayan Numerals". Archived from the original on 2006-07-14. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
^"Codex Dresdensis - Mscr.Dresd.R.310". Saxon State and University Library (SLUB) Dresden.
^David Stuart (June 15, 2012). "The Calligraphic Zero". Maya Decipherment: Ideas on Maya Writing and Iconography -- Boundary End Archaeological Research Center. Retrieved Mar 11, 2024.
Mayan numeral system was the system to represent numbers and calendar dates in the Maya civilization. It was a vigesimal (base-20) positional numeral system...
used. The Mayanumerals from 0 to 19 used repetitions of these symbols. The value of a numeral was determined by its position; as a numeral shifted upwards...
developed by the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America, where the concept of zero was given a standard symbol in Mayanumerals. Many Greek and...
integral part of Mayanumerals, with a different, empty tortoise-like "shell shape" used for many depictions of the "zero" numeral, it is assumed not...
technologies are required. The Mayan numerals, with values 0–1910 creating a base-20 system, are encoded in block Mayan Numerals. Vowel length and glottalization...
All known numeral systems developed before the Babylonian numerals are non-positional, as are many developed later, such as the Roman numerals. The French...
Unicode characters in this article correctly. The Kaktovik numerals or Kaktovik Iñupiaq numerals are a base-20 system of numerical digits created by Alaskan...
individual numbers can be represented by symbols, called numerals; for example, "5" is a numeral that represents the number five. As only a relatively small...
were done with Arabic numerals, which have replaced native numeral systems in most cultures. The exact age of the Mayanumerals is unclear, but it is...
Maya codices (sg.: codex) are folding books written by the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Maya hieroglyphic script on Mesoamerican bark paper. The...
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it...
occurred in many writing systems, including some (like Roman and Chinese numerals) that are still in use. That was also the original representation of 3...
number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Brahmic numerals represented 1, 2, and 3 with as many lines. 4 was simplified by joining...
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has garnered...
Kharosthi numeral system behaves like a partial vigesimal system. This table shows the Mayanumerals and the number names in Yucatec Maya, Nahuatl in...
writing Mayanumerals – System used by the ancient Mayan civilization to represent numbers and dates Moksha numerals Prehistoric numerals Roman numerals – Numbers...
Linguists and epigraphers still debate the accurate reading of classical Mayanumerals. Numbers greater than 20 are recorded in classical Mayan inscriptions...
writing system and their positional numeral system, both of which are fully indigenous to Mesoamerica. The Classic Maya understood many astronomical phenomena:...
still in use. Instead the Maya were using an abbreviated Short Count. Long Count dates are written with Mesoamerican numerals, as shown on this table....
The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca...
literary, academic, and technical contexts. Many common characters, including numerals, punctuation, and other symbols, are unified within the standard and are...
their numbers on the Indian system (long after the Maya culture developed the concept, cf. Mayanumerals). King Khongtekcha of Manipur (modern India) dies...
Tlapitzalli Ocarina Teponaztli Huehuetl Hom Carimba Painting – Classic period Maya paintings, found in the archaeological sites of Cacaxtla and Bonampak, are...
the first systems of written communication with Sumerian cuneiform to Mayanumerals, or the feats of engineering with the Egyptian pyramids. Differentiated...
hammer in China 38 BC: An empty shell Glyph for zero, is found on a Mayanumerals Stela, from Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas. Independently invented by Claudius...
Yucatec Maya (/ˈjuːkətɛk ˈmaɪə/; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as maaya t’aan [màːjaʔˈtʼàːn]) is a Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán...
Global Information
