Numerology is the sacred science by excellence.
It seems to be as old as the Scripts: in fact in many antique cultures like Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese and Indians, have been found written testimony; some studies put the origins all the way back to Atlantis.

Numbers used to be an instrument of power in the hands of the head of the tribe, community in which only the "few" could know the most hidden secrets.
This way, like for all the other healing techniques, the knowledge became monopoly of the most powerful and enterprising members of the clan.
The language was still at its beginning so, when the verbal communication was hard or even impossible, drawings were used to satisfy this need.

Many frequent signs/symbols where then codified and the meaning, through the ages, changed. The use and interpretation of these symbols were raised to a mystic meaning, way beyond their numeric value.

The inheritance of the Sumer who created, in the 3000 BC the computation system for the hour, minute and seconds, was used, later on, by the Babylon's and, in the 4th century BC by Pitagora. The philosopher and mathematician from Samo (who incremented his knowledge in Egypt) got, with his school to the interpretative unity of this topic, going beyond the social arranging and the different religions.
His thought was that numbers are the essence of things and that everything can be reconnected to a numeric expression.

It was believed that each number has a " mysterious" power related to the Sun and the other planets, a power capable of influencing the stars, the character and even the destiny of individuals.
The cultural impact of the Pitagoric philosophy on the other thinkers of the Catholic Church (S. Agostino) and the others like Dante, Carthesio, Balzac Hugo, was enormous.