The Aryan origin of the alphabet : disclosing the Sumero-Phœnician parentage of our letters ancient & modern

TABLES SHOWING SUMER ORIGIN OF LETTERS 19

letters generally exhibit also many features of the Akkad, Cadmean and Indian forms, though disguised to some extent by its wedge-style of writing.

Col. rz. Early Indian of the Emperor Asoka, about 250 B.C.,1 for comparison with the Sumero-Pheenician and Old Persian cuneiform, with which latter its relationship is disclosed, though disguised somewhat by the cuneiform style of writing. It is arranged in our alphabetic order. The new evidence indicates that some of the conjectural readings of Indian paleographs require revision. And it is highly significant that Asoka, an Aryan and Non-Semite, like the ruling Phenicians also wrote his edicts in reversed or “ Semitic’? style in the areas peopled by Semitic or ““ Hamutic”’ subjects.

Col. 12. Modern Hindi or “ Nagari,’”’ in which the top stroke is omitted for comparative purposes, as it is merely a late conventional way of joining the letters forming one word. The Tibetan writing, which was derived from India in seventh century A.D., along with its Buddhism preserves several of the archaic Sumerian features to a greater degree than the modern Hindi.?

Col. 13. This commences the Western or European group of alphabets with the earliest Greek inscribed letters of Athens of 409 B.c. although the Greek is later than several of the following columns, Etruscan, etc.

Col. 14. Etruscan or Tyrréne or Tyrséne from N.W. Italy of about the 11th to 5th century B.c.t This great seagoing people, a colony from Lydia shortly after the Trojan War (c. 1200 B.C.), were the highly civilized ruling race of Italy before the rise of the Romans. They were called by the Greeks, after the name they appear to have called

T Atter BIP: Pl.-2; 2 WBT. 22, 149.

’ There are Greek inscriptions slightly earlier at Elis, c. 520 B.c., and at Sparta, 476 B.c., and cp. letters on coins in Head and Hill’s Catalogues

of Greek coins in British Museum. 4 See under Col. 14.