3 in Phoenician
× 3
The three-tally group.
ANCIENT · DECIMAL TALLIES
Phoenician
Right-to-left additive notation with signs for units, ten, twenty, and one hundred.
Convert numbers- Place
- Levant and Mediterranean trading networks
- Period / variant
- Phoenician and Punic traditions · 1st millennium BCE onward
EXAMPLES
55 · Decimal tallies
Read right to left: 20 + 20 + 10 + 3 + 2.
Worked example
Write 55 in Phoenician
Start at the right and move left, writing the larger values first in reading order. Add the values of the signs.
- × 20× 20
Write 2 signs worth 20 each: 2 × 20 = 40.
- × 10
Write this sign for 10. Its value is 10 by itself.
- × 3
Write this sign for 3. Its value is 3 by itself.
- × 2
Write this sign for 2. Its value is 2 by itself.
Check
2 × 20 + 10 + 3 + 2 = 55
Sources and notation notes
The Unicode Standard 17.0, chapter 10 · Unicode Phoenician character chart
Meet the symbols
Each tile shows a sign and what it means. A sign can stand for a whole amount, such as 10 or 100.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 10
- 20
How the symbols fit together
Begin at the right-hand end and add the sign values as you move left.
- For 55, start with two twenty signs: 20 + 20 = 40.
- Continue to the ten sign. The running total becomes 40 + 10 = 50.
- The remaining three and two signs add five: 50 + 3 + 2 = 55.
- For 42, use two twenties and a two: 20 + 20 + 2. The converter groups unit tallies into the fewest available signs.
42 in Phoenician
× 2× 20× 20
Read right to left: 20 + 20 + 2.
55 in Phoenician
× 2× 3× 10× 20× 20
Read right to left: 20 + 20 + 10 + 3 + 2.
The app supports the straightforward additive range 1–99. Larger inscriptions can involve additional conventions, so the hundred sign is documented without extrapolating a general hundreds algorithm. There is no zero digit.
History
Phoenician writing spread across Mediterranean networks and continued in Punic forms. Its numerical notation uses repeated signs, with dedicated marks for ten, twenty, and hundred alongside small tally groups.
How to read it
Begin at the right-hand end and add the sign values as you move left.
- For 55, start with two twenty signs: 20 + 20 = 40.
- Continue to the ten sign. The running total becomes 40 + 10 = 50.
- The remaining three and two signs add five: 50 + 3 + 2 = 55.
- For 42, use two twenties and a two: 20 + 20 + 2. The converter groups unit tallies into the fewest available signs.
Limits
The app supports the straightforward additive range 1–99. Larger inscriptions can involve additional conventions, so the hundred sign is documented without extrapolating a general hundreds algorithm. There is no zero digit.
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