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# Numbers above 1,000 were written by placing, before the letter denoting the number of thousands, an obliquely slanting line crossed twice
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/chisla-bolshe-1-000-zapisyvali-raspolagaia-pered-bukvoi-oboznachaiushchei-kolichestvo-tysiach-dvazhdy-perecherknutuiu-naklonnuiu-liniiu/
- Published: 2017-04-14T10:40:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:45:49.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Science, Education

Numbers above 1,000 were written by placing, before the letter denoting the number of thousands, an obliquely slanting line crossed twice.  
Large numbers were written thus: Az (the letter a) in a circle was a *tma* ("darkness"), or 10,000\. Accordingly, Zemlya (the letter z) in a circle was 70,000.  
Az in a dotted circle was a *legion*, or 100,000.  
Az in a ring of commas was a *leodr*, or 1,000,000.  
Az in a ring of crosses was a *voron* ("raven"), or 10,000,000.  
Az in brackets above and below was a *koloda* ("pack"), or 100,000,000.  
Yery (the letter y), outlined on three sides by perpendicular lines and with a cross above, was a *tma tem* ("darkness of darknesses"), that is, a billion.