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
Number of the Beast used for imprints on documents or coins. Charagma is well attested to have been an imperial seal of the Roman Empire used on official documents during the 1st and 2nd centuries. In the reign of Emperor Decius (249–251 AD), those who did not possess the certificate of sacrifice () to Caesar could not pursue trades, a prohibition that conceivably goes back to Nero, reminding one of Revelation 13:17. Preterists argue that Revelation was written before the destruction of the Temple, with Nero exiling John to Patmos. Most scholars, however, argue it was written after Nero committed suicide in AD 68.