Alejandro sent me this cartoon which is done in the style of an Aztec codex, or manuscript.
The messenger tells the emperor that there is a Mayan spy among their ranks.
The emperor tells him to gather everyone together.
When they have been assembled before the emperor, he shows them an empty basket and asks, "How many tamales are in the basket?"
One of them replies, "Zero."
"Simple," says the emperor, and the soldiers haul that man away.
Can you explain how the emperor knew who the spy was? Give me your answer in the comments section.
I'm going to guess it was because Mayans had the concept of zero, but the Aztecs did not yet
ReplyDeleteBravo, Meredith! The Mayan number system was the first in the world to have a symbol representing the concept of zero. Even though the Aztec numbers were influenced by the Mayas... a base 20 system with dots and bars... they did not have a symbol for zero.
DeleteNice! After I read your original post, I googled the Mayan number system. The dots and bars actually make addition and subtraction really intuitive. Very cool!
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