> > Also, God in the Bible seems to promote the superior concept of defining things by units of Twelve (though I really can't understand why Seven is also a desirable number representing 'perfect' completion.)
>
> As I understand it, reckoning from the POV of a human(as well as other living beings)...
>
> 1-4: The 4 cardinal directions.
>
> 5-6: Up and Down.
>
> 7: One's own center.
>

That's interesting, that the biblical value of Seven is derived from cardinal points. Of course, the four cardinal directions refer back to the Four Corners of the World (as well as to the Four Winds which blow therefrom), since a fair number of references in the Bible begin with an assumption that the world is plainly flat.

In Chinese culture, the number of cardinal directions is 8. Using standard map terminology, these directions are equivalent to N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW. Eight is considered the luckiest of all numbers. On the other hand One, Seven, and especially Four (which sounds like the word 'death' in Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean), are all undesirable.


> If I can get to my copy of "The Mystery of the Menorah and the Hebrew Alphabet", I can perhaps explain it better.
>

I'm guessing that prior to Hannukah, the number Eight was not that particularly significant to the Jews. Maybe it is the 'new' number of perfection, since it's one digit higher than Seven.


> Interesting Query: If we used a system for which 10 is neither a factor nor a multiple(say, 7), would we still count on our fingers the same way?
>
> Nyper"31 base 7"old

Perhaps I misunderstand your question. You mean that if we used some base number which was non-intuitive -- like, for example, the prime number 7 -- would we still be using fingers to help count? I can't see why not, and we'd need all the help we can get in that case.

Wolfspirit