Numerology

Apart from the Ethiopic numerals (or አኃዝ - U+1369-U+137C), which were in fact derived from the Ethiopic letters8, there is a fortune telling as well as mystical practice of associating numeric values to letters.

The simplest form of enumeration applies only to the ግዕዝ (first) form letters arranged in the Hebrew order. This arrangement appears to be an attempt to superimpose the Gematria discipline of Hebrew and Greek mysticism onto the Ge'ez character set. Gematria, derived from the Greek word "geometry" (also known as "Sacred Geometry" and "Isopsephia" in Greek15) is the practice of assigning numeric value to letters to reveal hidden meanings and relationships thru the summation of the letters in keyword found in sacred text. A phonetic based superposition would help keep the values of personal and place names equal across translated scriptures as the characters of each script are first phonetically aligned before the numeric assignments are made. Archaic letters were inserted into the Greek sequence (Ϛ and Ϟ) to stay in locked step with Hebrew (the character names also indicate the alignment). Or so it appears, there are convincing arguments that show the Hebrew enumerations were borrowed from an earlier Greek practice. Unquestionably the Gematria practice reached its most developed state in Judaism where it flourished and remains strongest in the present day.

Variations on the theme occur in Hebrew after the end of the Hebrew alephbet, which would otherwise end in 400. There appears to be two conventions that allow Gematria for Hebrew script to continue. Whereby final forms of certain letters may be employed or the primary group is used in combination to form values thru summation. It should be noted that enumeration of letters to serve as numbers for Semitic scripts was fairly common. It is not known to the present author if the enumeration had the same intended purpose. Resource readily available on the World Wide Web would indicate that enumeration after 400 is less common and may have become a practice lost to antiquity.

Gematria Enumeration

Ethiopic Hebrew Greek Value Ethiopic
Numeral

Alef
א
Alef
Α
Alpha
1

Bet
ב
Bet
Β
Beta
2

Gemel
ג
Gimel
Γ
Gamma
3

Dint
ד
Dalet
Δ
Delta
4

Hoy
ה
He
Ε
Epsilon
5

Wewe
ו
Vav
Ϛ/Ϝ
Vau
6
    Ϛ or Ϝ inserted into Greek sequence.

Zey
ז
Zayin
Ζ
Zeta
7

Hawt
ח
Het
Η
Eta
8

Teyt
ט
Tet
Θ
Theta
9

Yemen
י
Yod
Ι
Iota
10

Kaf
כ
Kaf
Κ
Kappa
20

Lawi
ל
Lamed
Λ
Lambda
30

May
מ
Mem
Μ
Mu
40

Nehas
נ
Nun
Ν
Nu
50

Sewt
ס
Samekh
Ξ
Xi
60

Ayin
ע
Ayin
Ο
Omicron
70

Af
פ
Pe
Π
Pi
80

Seday
צ
Tsadi
Ϟ
Koppa
90
    Ϟ inserted into Greek sequence.

Qaf
ק
Qof
Ρ
Rho
100

Ris
ר
Resh
Σ
Sigma
200 ፪፻

Sat
ש
Shin
Τ
Tau
300 ፫፻

Taw
ת
Tav
Υ
Upsilon
400 ፬፻
End of Hebrew Alephbet

Harm
ך
Final Kaf
Φ
Phi
500 ፭፻

Sepa
ם
Final Mem
Χ
Chi
600 ፮፻

Peyt
ן
Final Nun
Ψ
Psi
700 ፯፻

Psa
ף
Final Pe
Ω
Omega
800 ፰፻

Harm-Zemede-Ge'ez
ץ
Final Tsadi
Ϡ
Sampi
900 ፱፻

Qaf-Zemede-Ge'ez
    1,000 ፲፻

Alef-Sadis
    10,000
Continuing named orders of ten for the curious...
የእ
Yemen-Ge'ez Alef-Sadis
(አእላፍ)   100,000 ፲፼
ቀእ
Qaf-Ge'ez Alef-Sadis
(አእላፋት)   1,000,000 ፻፼
ቈእ
Qaf-Zemede-Ge'ez Alef-Sadis
(ትእልፊት)   10,000,000 ፲፻፼
እእ
Alef-Sadis Alef-Sadis
(ትእልፊታት)   100,000,000 ፼፼
ቈእእ
Qaf-Zemede-Ge'ez Alef-Sadis Alef-Sadis
(ምእልፊት)   100,000,000,000 ፲፻፼፼
እእእ
Alef-Sadis Alef-Sadis Alef-Sadis
(ምእልፊታት)   1,000,000,000,000 ፼፼፼

Note that the Greek letters Stigma (Ϛ a Sigma-Tau ligature) and Digamma (Ϝ) could both be used for the number 6 and were known in numeric context as "Vau".

Debtera (Halehame) Enumeration

The applicability of the "Abegede" enumeration is not well understood; it may be a scholarly alternative to the preferred "Halehame" system of the debtere. The debtere are adjunct members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church clergy. Though not ordained, debtere will have a wider range of learned skills than what is required of a priest. They perform the music and dance associated with church services and also function as astrologers, herbalists, scribes, wizards, and fortune-tellers and learn church lore. The system extends the enumeration for the original seven syllabic forms of the syllabary. The application of the numerals after the first form is not clear. Example usage of the system to find the numeric value of words invariably uses the letters of a word in the first form only. Seemingly as if the pre-syllabic Ge'ez was somehow more meaningful in the practice.

Proponents of the "halehame" enumeration testify to the better results it offers when applied as Gematria. A validation of the ordering comes from the numeric value of ክርስቶስ (Christos) which expands to: ከ 50 + ረ 6 + ሰ 7 + ቶ 10 + ሰ 7 = 80. Eighty in turn multiplied by ten is eight hundred, which is exactly the value of ፐ the last member of the first order of the syllabary2.

A basic example use of the enumeration system applied to fortune telling is to take a person's mother's name, find its summation from the first form characters, take the modulo of twelve and compare it against the corresponding star for that month. The resulting star then indicates what fortune that person can expect in his or her lifetime. This use of numerology with astrology is in the much the same tradition as the monthly Zodiac system still popular in the west and the Chinese annual system where the animal for a given year indicates what fortune a person can expect. No doubt there are the available variations to offer a second opinion when needed.

  ግዕዝ ካዕብ ሣልስ ራብዕ ኃምስ ሳድስ ሳብዕ
ሆይ
Hoy







ላዊ
Lawi






፲፪

፲፬
ሐውት
Hawt




፲፪

፲፭

፲፰

፳፩
ማይ
May



፲፪

፲፮


፳፬

፳፰
ሠውት
Sewt



፲፭


፳፭


፴፭
ርእስ
Ris


፲፪

፲፰

፳፬


፴፮

፵፪
ሳት
Sat


፲፬

፳፩

፳፰

፴፭

፵፪

፵፱
ቃፍ
Qaf


፲፮

፳፬

፴፪


፵፰

፶፮
Bet
ቤት


፲፰

፳፯

፴፮

፵፭

፶፬

፷፫
Taw
ታው







Harm
ኀርም






፻፳

፻፵
ነሐስ
Nehas




፻፳

፻፶

፻፹

፪፻፲
አልፍ
Alef



፻፳

፻፷

፪፻

፪፻፵

፪፻፹
ካፍ
Kaf



፻፶

፪፻

፪፻፶

፫፻

፫፻፶
ወዌ
Wewe


፻፳

፻፹

፪፻፵

፫፻

፫፻፷

፬፻፳
ዐይን
Ayin


፻፵

፪፻፲

፪፻፹

፫፻፶

፬፻፳

፬፻፺
ዘይ
Zey


፻፷

፪፻፵

፫፻፳

፬፻

፬፻፹

፭፻፷
የመን
Yemen


፻፹

፪፻፸

፫፻፷

፬፻፶

፭፻፵

፮፻፴
ድንት
Dint


፪፻

፫፻

፬፻

፭፻

፮፻

፯፻
ገምል
Gemel

፪፻

፬፻

፮፻

፰፻

፲፻

፲፪፻

፲፬፻
ጠይት
Teyt

፫፻

፮፻

፱፻

፲፪፻

፲፭፻

፲፰፻

፳፩፻
ጰይት
Peyt

፬፻

፰፻

፲፪፻

፲፮፻

፳፻

፳፬፻

፳፰፻
ጸደይ
Sedey

፭፻

፲፻

፲፭፻

፳፻

፳፭፻

፴፻

፴፭፻
ፀጳ
Sepa

፮፻

፲፪፻

፲፰፻

፳፬፻

፴፻

፴፮፻

፵፪፻
አፍ
Af

፯፻

፲፬፻

፳፩፻

፳፰፻

፴፭፻

፵፪፻

፵፱፻
ፕሳ
Psa

፰፻

፲፮፻

፳፬፻

፴፪፻

፵፻

፵፰፻

፶፮፻

But is it Essential?

Ultimately no. This class of character information is not widely applicable to text and information processing. Ethiopic numerology while still in use plays a role in modern society analogous to a "Zodiac" type fortune telling system and would only be applied in specialized software for this purpose.


See Also: A Look at Ethiopic Numerals