To add to Joe’s letters into numbers and back. Arabic and Hebrew both have systems of encoding or deriving numbers from words and then connecting those numbers to new words in order to expand meaning. Added to the increased ability to use puns and homonyms this creates deep layers of meaning to texts. As Islamic civilization influenced Europe in the middle ages many of these concepts entered Europe along with the reintroduction of ‘lost’ classical knowlege. I would also suspect that similar processes were at work to the east as well through India into China and beyond. See The Sufis by Idres Shaw for a good discussion.
Doug Walker
Completely cut off both heads,
Let a single sword stand against the cold sky!