cure for sickness) is, in Akkadian, as follows :* (giš) šiniga (gud) innuš, gi, tê (Em) si, bi šura (written šur-ra) ša-bi ša-me-ni-šub. Assyrian: Binu, maštakal, kan šalalu, uhulu karnanu, šikaru mazû, ana libbi idî - ma. "Put also in the midst cucumberseed (?), grass-seed (?), šalalu-cane, horned uhulu, (and) sweet wine." An unpublished text (D.T. 57.) of like nature, gives the variant NM NY martakal for maštakal in a similar connection :—

Assyr. bînu, martakal (NMM) likê-ma,

that is "take also cucumber-seed (?) and grass-seed (?).”

:

Here we have, in maštakal and martakal, a clear example of the change of s() into r () before the dental t.

In the important bilingual-magical text, published in W.A.I. IV, pl. 15, in lines occur, they are as follows: Ana (written an-na) anibîne + (written an-ni-bi-ne) imman - (E)- eš; Assyrian: Šamê šakiš išdudú-ma (MYYED), "to the heavens on high they ascended and." Nuna, saga maga, ana (an-na) imman - ❖ (E) - eš, Assyrian : Rubû, ašaridu şîru, ana šamê irdudu ("the prince, the supreme hero, ascended to the heavens."

5 and 9, two passages of great interest

Here is again, in the words išdudu and irdudu, an equally clear example of the change of s into before a dental (d), and, to take away all doubt, a duplicate in the Assyrian character gives clearly for the Babylonian.

Now the meaning of the verb šadadu, "to ascend,"§ is clear from the context, and it remains only to find a form of the word

* W.A.I., Vol. IV, pl. 26, 1. 36, 37. The lithographed plate there wrongly gives-ta kal for - ta - kal.

+ Variant anibêne (written an ni - bi- e- ne).

Wrongly printed in the lithographed plate

original is in the Babylonian character; hence the mistake.

sa- du du. The

§ Literally, "to ascend straight." Compare the Heb. TT (not used in Kal); probably "to be straight, level"; Arab.; conj. I, IV, "to tend straight to the mark." The Akkadian root has, with the pronunciation gid, the meaning of araku, "to be long," šarabaṭu, "to extend," &c., &c., kindred meanings with that of sadadu, in which also the group shares, with, most likely, the same pronunciation.

[1881. with the changed into 7, and with the same meaning, to make the chain complete. This is to be found in W.A.I. IV, pl. 54, Col. I, line 37: ikkiru, mât Elam (ki) ildudamma "he revolted, (to) Elam he ascended and." The Shaphel ušaldada (for ušašdada) occurs in Smith's "Sennacherib," p. 161, and is there rightly translated by Prof. Sayce "I caused to erect."

Such changes as these are not foreign to the Semitic languages, for Prof. Dillmann* has shown that the change between s and r exists in Ethiopic in the words : hêsa, "it is better," and 44: her, "good," the Arab; and between and lin (Þ): bakala, "to punish," Heb. "chastisement," Ana: abâl, “member,” pe "to cut up flesh in large pieces"; : halala and 22: harara, "to burn," and "to be hot," Arab. "to be hot"; Arab. and "to be afraid "; &c., &c.

أهبر Arab

حر

These changes seem never to have extended so far in Arabic, Ethiopic, &c., as in Assyrian, in which the became first r, then 7,‡ but on the other hand, though in Arabic, Ethiopic, &c., s changes intor, and into 7, without reference to position in the word, or to the letters preceding or following, in Assyrian it occurs only before a dental.

As a rule () (at least in later times) was pronounced as simple s in Assyrian, as is implied by the frequent interchange of these letters (and D), and not as sh. Even the Shaphel conjugation is sometimes written with inserted s instead of Š, as in ME ==Y (Y = usabšil, "I caused to be cooked," musakil, "I caused to be eaten," and Em → → NYY Y usamriş, "I caused (them) to be oppressed." (W.A.I. III, plate 4, line 41.)

* Dillmann, "Grammatik der Äthiopischen Sprache.' Leipzig. 1857. Pp. 53 and 54.

The Rev. A. Löwy has pointed out a much better comparison in the Aram. "member."

Prof. Schrader in his "Assyrische-babylonische Keilinschriften" (Leipzig, 1872). p. 205, remarks: "In den verwandten Sprachen begegnet uns dieser Uebergang von und nicht; doch hat er hinlängliche Analogien an dem Uebergange von / und einerseits, von rund & anderseits." Already he had hit the right explanation.

The values of the character.

The most usual values of the character M in Assyrian are u and šam (sam), indeed, they may be called the only values of the character. In Akkadian, however, it had, in addition, the value kuš, when translated by the Assyrian ahu (W.A.I. II, pl. 48, l. 48 cd), u when translated by the Assyrian umu (Sb 75; W.A.I. V, pl. 27, l. 56, gk), but when it signified a vegetable substance, whether for food or otherwise, the pronunciation seems to have been gud, as will be seen from the following extract from the tablet numbered 80-7-19. 192, obv., l. 21:—

As an Assyrian value guš or kuš must be given up, as the word Emm, translating the Akk. (uri, ura) must be considered as a loan-word from the Akkadian, and read u-ru, not gušru. The word gušuru, "beam" (W.A.I. II, pl. 15, l. 12, &c.) is borrowed from the Akkadian gis-uru, where, evidently by vowelharmony, the i has become u,† in the Assyrian form of the word.

The following has been received from Prof. Wright:-

MY DEAR SIR,

QUEENS' COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

30th March, 1881.

Some time ago you showed me a rough copy of a Phoenician inscription at Melrose, which Mr. Boscawen had received from the Rev. L. C. Casartelli, of St. Bede's College, Manchester. The stone itself is now in my hands, and I can give you a correct reading of it.

* In W. A.I. V, plate 32, line 57, the prefix gi,

"cane is added:

gi gud ki si ga kinnu sa işşuri, "nest of birds."

+ I see from a communication from Dr. Haupt, that he also is of the opinion that gušuru is a loan-word from the Akkadian, but is inclined to think that the Assyrian form of the word implies a secondary form of gis, ("wood"), namely gus, but this is hardly likely, as i seems to have been the proper vowel of the word, for even the Sumerian dialect, which preferred u where the Akkadian had i, gives the form mis (W.A.I. II, pl. 46, No. 6), and not mus, as would be expected.

[1881. It formed part of a small collection of antiquities belonging to a Mr. Wilson, of Berwickshire. At his death, some four or five years ago, the collection passed into the hands of Mr. Geo. Hamilton, the present proprietor of the Abbey Hotel at Melrose. Mr. Hamilton has kindly lent me the stone for a short time, through the intervention of my friends the Rev. Jas. Herdman, LL.D., of Melrose, and his brother Mr. Robert Herdman, the well-known painter.

The inscription is engraved on a piece of calcareous stone, about 9 inches in height by 4 in breadth, and 24 in thickness. Its form is similar to that of most of the Carthaginian ex-votos

in Euting's Punische Steine. Above the inscription is an uplifted hand; below it the figure

The three lines of writing run thus:

---

A

לרבת לתנת פן בעל ולאדן

לבעל חמן אשנדרע

יתנת בת חנבעל בן

(1) To the lady (or goddess) Tanith, the face of Ba'al, and to the lord, (2) to Ba'al Hammân; which vowed

(3) Yûthnath, the daughter of Hanniba'al the son of

There is not a new word here, except, I think, the female proper name in 1. 3. in Phoenician is = Heb. ¡n, to give; but I cannot say whether is Yuthnath Heb. on, giving, liberal, bountiful;, or Yethûnath = Heb. 7, given (scil. by Ba'al; compare and, Deus dedit). On by,

the face, i.e., the female counterpart, of Ba'al, see M. Clermont-Ganneau in the Journal Asiatique, 7ème série, t. xi., no. 3, April-Mai-Juin, 1878, p. 519 sqq. The epithet, applied to Baʻal as sungod, finds its explanation in the D of the Old Testament, Levit. xxvi. 30, Is. xvii. 8, xxvii. 9, Ezek. vi. 4, 6, 2 Chron. xiv. 4, but especially 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4. 3rd pers. sing. perfect. The engraver has obviously omitted the name of Hannibal's father, through ignorance or carelessness.

נָדְרָה is later spelling for נדרע

Yours very truly,

W. H. RYLANDS, ESQ.

WM. WRIGHT.

The following has been addressed to the President :

DEAR SIR,

INSTITUTION ETHNOGRAPHIQUE.

DÉLÉGATION GÉNÉRALE DU CANADA,

19, ST. LUKE STREET, MONTRÉAL, 21st February, 1881.

Permit me to intrude once more briefly on the subject of the Jabez of 1 Chronicles iv, 9, 10, whom I hold to be the Pharaoh of Joseph, and a convert to monotheism through the influence of that patriarch. His name is y, which in Egyptian would be aahpeti. In your translation of the Inscription of Aahmes, side B, line 6, Aahmes the king is surnamed Ra-aa-peh-ti. Is not Aa-peh-peh the same name? I have reason to believe that was the son of Jabez, so that I would read Mes-aah instead of Aahmes. Aptu as the name of Thebes would still give us the unknown city of Jabez. It would appear that the Hebrew ayin represents the sign rendered ah in Egyptian. I conclude, for fear of taxing your patience, And remain, very respectfully yours,

JOHN CAMPBEll.

The next Meeting of the Society will be held at 9, Conduit Street, Hanover Square, W., on 3rd May, 1881, at 8 p.m., when the following papers will be read :—

I. ERNEST DE BUNSEN :-"The Date of Menes."

II. PROFESSOR A. EISENLOHR:-"An Historical Monument (Egyptian)."