Egyptian Numerals

An ancient additive decimal system using hieroglyphic symbols

About Egyptian Numerals

Egyptian numerals were used in ancient Egypt from around 3000 BCE. The system is purely additive: each power of ten has a distinct hieroglyph, and numbers are written by repeating the symbols as many times as needed. There is no subtraction (unlike Roman numerals) and no symbol for zero.

Symbols are written from left to right, with the largest values first. The same symbol is repeated up to nine times for a given place (e.g., nine strokes for 9, nine heel bones for 90).

Key Features:

  • Seven basic symbols (Gardiner): Z1 stroke (1), V20 cattle hobble (10), V1 coil of rope (100), M12 lotus (1000), D50 bent finger (10000), I8 froglet (100000), C011 Heh (1000000).
  • Purely additive: values are summed (e.g., two heel bones + three strokes = 23).
  • No symbol for zero.
  • Written top to bottom (highest value first), then left to right within each rowβ€”as on the Karnak carving (e.g. 4622).
  • Used on monuments, papyri, and in administrative and religious texts.

Further Reading:

Egyptian Numeral Table

Basic Symbols (powers of 10)

Value Egyptian Hieroglyph Name
1𓏹Z1 Stroke
10π“Ž†V20 Cattle hobble
100π“ˆ–V1 Coil of rope
1000𓆼M12 Lotus (water lily)
10000π“‚­D50 Bent finger
100000𓆐I8 Froglet
1000000𓁨C011 Heh (million)

Examples of Numbers:

Value Egyptian Numeral
12 π“Ž†
𓏹𓏹
85 π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†
𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹
153 π“ˆ–
π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†
𓏹𓏹𓏹
999 π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–
π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†
𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹
1234 𓆼
π“ˆ–π“ˆ–
π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†
𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹
12345 π“‚­
𓆼𓆼
π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–
π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†
𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹𓏹
54321 π“‚­π“‚­π“‚­π“‚­π“‚­
𓆼𓆼𓆼𓆼
π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“ˆ–
π“Ž†π“Ž†
𓏹

Larger Numbers:

Value Egyptian Numeral
1000 𓆼
2000 𓆼𓆼
5000 𓆼𓆼𓆼𓆼𓆼
10000 π“‚­
50000 π“‚­π“‚­π“‚­π“‚­π“‚­
100000 𓆐
1000000 𓁨