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Numbers (numerals) were not distinct from letters in the West for a long time. China didn't have "letters," and did have Chinese characters that serve as numerals (with place value notation probably coming later there than in India, although some Chinese scholars like to claim priority for that over India). By the time the West had numerals, it had had a well established alphabetical order for more than a millennium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_numerals