..the arithmetic that was developed
in Sumer as early as 3200 B.C., whether by coincidence or by
intuitive induction, so matched the celestial
order as to amount in itself to a revelation. The whole archaic
Oriental world, in contrast to the earlier primitive and later
Occidental, was absolutely hypnotized by this miracle. The force
of number was of far greater moment than mere fact; for it seemed
actually to be the generator of fact. It was of greater moment
than humanity; for it was the organizing principle by which humanity
realized and recognized its own latent harmony and sense. It
was of considerably greater moment than the gods; for in the
majesty of its cycles, greater cycles and ever greater, more
majestic, infinitely widening cycles, it was the law by which
gods came into being; for in its matrix lay the law of being.
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