Thanks, Katherine G, that was very informative. I already knew about the Mesopotamian origin of the Bible Flood story and it goes to show that the roots of Genmatria possibly predate the Jews themselves.

Khazar-Khum:

Quote

40, 7, 3 and 9 are all considered to be 'magic numbers'

And more besides. I remembered reading about a connection between the number 40 and the movement of Venus so decided to look it up.

Quote

Some scholars believe the number 40 was originally sacred to the Jews and Muslims due to the fact that the planet Venus forms a pentagram in the night sky every eight years and returns to its original point every 40 years with a 40 day regression.

It doesn't say which Scholars :-(, but interesting nonetheless.

[www.todayifoundout.com]