Number of the Beast Maometis in Greek numerals totals 666: In the 1923 book "The Number And Names Of The Apocalyptic Beasts", David Thom rejects "Maometis" as a valid translation, observing that "of the seven different ways in which Muhammad’s name is written in Euthymius and the Byzantine historians, not one is the orthography in question". None of the given spellings add up to 666 under Greek gematria. The Classical Greek word "charagma" (), translated as "mark" (of the beast) in Revelation 13:16 can also mean "any mark engraved", "imprinted", or "branded"; "stamped money", "document", or "coin". A common preterist view of the Mark
The Number of the Beast (song) In spite of this, it remains one of the band's more popular songs, reaching No. 18 in the UK singles charts, and has been performed on almost all of their concert tours. Additionally, the song has been covered numerous times and has appeared in several video games and films. According to the song's writer, bassist and band-founder Steve Harris, it was inspired by a nightmare he had after watching the film "", in addition to the poem "Tam o' Shanter" by Robert Burns. The song opens with a spoken word passage, read by English actor Barry Clayton, which quotes Revelation