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Albert asked:
At this point I would like to make a question, knowing that your are an authority and scholar on the subject of ancient languages and their alphabets. And I also understand that you have been writing an essay about the origin of the numbers from 1 to 100 in different cultures and languages. Lately, it has caught my attention one of the Robert Lawler statement: "Ancient geometry begins with One, while modern mathematics and geometry begins with Zero. On the other hand,:
a) Apparently the concept of the number Zero as separate entity has been appeared around 8th Century in India literature.
b) The introduction of the number Zero before the number 1 in the Occidental culture has been around the 16th Century,
c) Does any ancient culture i.e. Egyptian, Roman. Greek, Mayan, Hebrew, etc. has a symbol for the number Zero?
As far as I know the Roman and Hebrew alphanumeric system contain the number zero implicitly. For instance; Roman: X = 10, XX = 20, XXX = 30, etc. Hebrew: Yod= 10, lamed = 20 and so forth; but there is no symbol for the number Zero. You know what I mean? Your learned opinion on this matter will be greatly appreciated,
David Allen Hulse answered:
Zero is discussed extensively in my two books THE EASTERN MYSTERIES and THE WESTERN MYSTERIES. Of all the number languages, the most sophisticated development of zero (including the role of place value) can be found in the sacred Sanskrit alphabet code known as KA-TA-PA-YA-DHI. Here 3 letters of the alphabet serve as the place value of zero. This code is digital. Only the consonants receive number value. The vowels are without value (which is distinct from the 3 consonants that are zero as a place value). The Hebrew alphabet does not have the special value of zero. The Tarot, however, equated zero with Aleph and The Fool. And the Jewish Qabalah premises the Ain Soph Aur as the void which precedes one as a crown of light in Kether. Dee's own digital code for Enochian is missing the essential alphabet character for "zero" making it impossible to represent any complex number with a place value of zero (like 10, 100, 101, 1000, etc). Hope this little bit of insight on zero helps resolve your questions.