| This dissertation presents a systematic collection of numerical writings for Akkadian and Sumerian words. Two categories of substitution cipher, i.e. the replacement of letters (or comparable graphemes) by prearranged substitutes, existed. Syllabic substitution cipher is represented primarily by the number-syllabaries. Defined in this thesis on the basis of five previously unpublished texts, the term number-syllabary refers to examples of Syllabary A in which the syllabic signs are preceded by numbers. The extant texts show that a maximum of three number-syllabary systems existed. The purpose of this system is yet unknown. Only one contextual example of syllabic substitution is preserved: the number 6 used for the syllable as.;Although some earlier examples survive, substitution cipher is primarily a first millennium (B.C.) phenomenon, flourishing in the Seleucid period. The chronological factor, combined with the systematic application of numerical substitutes for specific words, suggests that this may have been the precursor of the Greek practice of assigning numbers to letters of the alphabet which, in turn, was adopted by the Hellenistic Jews of gematria.;The second category of substitution cipher is logographic. Found in omen, astronomical, land, and medical texts, the numbers in this category stand for phrases and words, divine and geographical names. |
