Salamis Tablet

[1] Originally thought to be a gaming board, the slab of white marble is currently at the Epigraphical Museum in Athens.

The three sets of Greek symbols arranged along the left, right and bottom edges of the tablet are numbers from the acrophonic system.

As with other counting boards and abaci, each counter represents one unit of a magnitude determined by position.

Already in the Ionian time period number systems were responsible for the written use, which became necessary because of the expanding commercial activity.

The two number systems differed in their use: the Attic predominantly served the commercial life for the adjustment of funds and goods data as well as for the designation of the columns on the abacus.