Micro-Numerals: Unit Fractions, Carats, and the Arabic Culture of Accountancy, 900sâ1900s
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Abstract
Scholars of Middle Eastern economic history have rarely examined systems of numerical notation. This article analyzes a set of glyphs used by accountant-scribes to represent unit fractions in Arabic fiscal documents from Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Sudan between the fifth/eleventh and fourteenth/twentieth centuries. Through documentary analysis, I trace the emergence of an official Arabic culture of accountancy. I argue that these âmicro-numeralâ glyphs originated as ligatures of Arabic words for fractional numerals in Egypt, employed to denote coin fractions (or their weight) from the fourth/tenth century onward. Over time, they also came to represent the carat (qÄ«rÄá¹) 24-part division scheme. In pre-Ottoman contexts, numerical notation was often âsituational,â denoting not only numbers but also the kinds of items counted. After the Ottoman conquest, micro-numerals remained central to accountancy in the Nile Valley and Yemen up to the twentieth century. Three appendices address terminology, the carat scheme, and nineteenth-century Egyptian fiscal usage.
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Micro-Numerals: Unit Fractions, Carats, and the Arabic Culture of Accountancy, 900sâ1900s
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Abstract
Scholars of Middle Eastern economic history have rarely examined systems of numerical notation. This article analyzes a set of glyphs used by accountant-scribes to represent unit fractions in Arabic fiscal documents from Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Sudan between the fifth/eleventh and fourteenth/twentieth centuries. Through documentary analysis, I trace the emergence of an official Arabic culture of accountancy. I argue that these âmicro-numeralâ glyphs originated as ligatures of Arabic words for fractional numerals in Egypt, employed to denote coin fractions (or their weight) from the fourth/tenth century onward. Over time, they also came to represent the carat (qÄ«rÄá¹) 24-part division scheme. In pre-Ottoman contexts, numerical notation was often âsituational,â denoting not only numbers but also the kinds of items counted. After the Ottoman conquest, micro-numerals remained central to accountancy in the Nile Valley and Yemen up to the twentieth century. Three appendices address terminology, the carat scheme, and nineteenth-century Egyptian fiscal usage.
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