Why do people fear number 13?

American researchers believe that at least 10% of the population of the United States of America have a panic fear of 13. Every year, we have a few days in which a damn dozen falls on a Friday. Everyone knows that superstition aggravates the problem even more, turning a simple fear of an unfortunate figure into a real phobia. So, scientists calculated that because of the fear of the number 13 people in the United States have financial losses equivalent to 800 million dollars per year: they do not marry these days, do not travel or do not even work at all. So what does this magical have these numbers and why so much superstition among the masses? Let's try to figure it out.

The earliest myth around the number 13

Did you know that the mysterious trail behind the devil's dozen stretches since the formation of the world's oldest legal document, the Hammurah Code. Thus, according to historians, from the list of legal norms, for some reason, the 13th law was omitted. However, this is not mysticism and no coincidence, as some readers will think. This is just nothing more than a clerical error committed by one of the first translators of the document, but in fact in the original version of the Hammurah code the item number 13 existed.

The superiority of the number 12

Meanwhile, mathematicians and scientists of the ancient world pointed to the superiority of the number 12, which was considered ideal. Thus, the inhabitants of the ancient Sumer developed their own system of calculus, which is based on the use of number 12. The echoes of this system thrive to this day. We have 12 months of the year, as well as a day, divided into two cycles, each of which absorbed 12 hours. Of course, the number that goes directly after the "ideal" could look in the eyes of the people as something unknown, wrong and frightening.

Popular theories

Two of the most popular theories link the unlucky connotation of number 13 to ancient events: the appearance of 13 guests who violated the balance of 13 gods (the god Locke), and 13 apostles Judas Iscariot, who arrived at the Last Supper. The treacherous god Locke at the Ball in Valhalla breaks the habitual balance and introduces evil and unrest around the world, and Judas subsequently betrays Jesus Christ.

Unexplained fears of Western world design

Throughout the world, it is common practice to fear the magic of numbers. So, in the Arab world and in most of Southeast Asia and to this day, the people prefer not to meet with the number 4, which has been considered unclean since the days of Ancient Egypt. In addition, in Chinese, the hieroglyph meaning "4" is also consonant with a hieroglyphic signifying "death."

Well, the number 13 is traditionally an outcast in the Western world. According to statistics, more than 80% of buildings in the US do not have 13 floors, hotels, hospitals and airports have also withdrawn this number from circulation.