The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-05

Sinaitic Inscriptions, l have at last solved tho
difficulty OF their Interpretation. Although the
photographic details must necessarily be reserved
Tor more extended report. a slipht sketch IF
the method employed in decphering them and
the results at which I have arrived NAV NOT
prove altogether uninteresting to you. My first
impression on seeing the inscriptions was that
= the chief difficulty had arisen from the inaccu-
racy OF former copies, and l was convinced that
some practice and considerable familiarity with
4 the writings were requisite before a faithful
reproduction could be hoped for accordingly
4 proceeded to make careful drawings OF all that
were accessible in our immediate neighborhOod,
and spent rs much time possible in studying
them daily upon the rocks themselves. Wishing
also to form an independent opinion, carefully
4 AVOIDED consulting any of the aphabets which
y has been constructed by previous essayists, until
should myself arrive at some conclusion, or
4 find some internal evidence to afford n clue to
the mystery. The result of my Investigation
was a conviction that the Sinaitc Inscriptions so
Rfrom being in n unique and unknown charac-
.sSH, were in reality nothing but another phase of
that Semitic alphabet whose forms appear alike
4 III the Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek. They seemed,
Il indeed, TO constitute an intermediate link be-
tween the ordinary Hebrew and the Cufc, and
this relationship was shown still more clearly
~ 10y comparison of the two classes into which
n the Sinaitic writings principally resolve them
selves. In some cases the letters are detached,
= and bear a strong resemblance to the Hebrew;
N others, they are connected by line, and their
IA HORNS being more cursiye, might be mistaken
|#tDy an unpractised observer for Cutie. AS | ac-
@kqured greater familiarity with them, the iden-
|kity of individual letters almost forced itself
#kpon me; but still refrained from attempting
4@Hlny transliteration which rested upon such
<f peculation alone, and determined to wait until
|t had seen the larger collection in Wady Mukat
Neb before putting my conjectures to the test. |
loticed, moreover that Greek inscriptions were
hi frequent occurrence amongst the Sinaitic, and
ID external indications could be trusted, cOinci-
n ent with them in date; and / entertained great
hopes that might meet with others in Wady
ENlukatteb to confirm my views; especially as at
east one bilngual inscription was reported to
Xst in that place. Nor were my expectations
frustrated by the result. On the 26th of Janu-
{.ry, Mr. Holland and | started for Mukatteb,
with the intention of copying, If possible, the
lfwhole of the collection there. We had even then
copied large number in other parts of the
IPennsula, my book alone containing over eight
5hundred of them.
fcrption, and found that the evidence of the
4ireek and Sinaitic writing of which it consists
HNhying been executed by the same hand was even
more incontrovertibe than il had been described.
remarked, at sthe same time, that the copies
N hitherto brought to Europe were so inaccurate
bs to convey but very faint idea of the real ap-
fearance of the stone This inscription not only
&fOnfrmed my previous views as to the co-eXist-
tnce of the Greek and Sinaitic, but established
3he correctness of my Identification of the vari-
uS letters occurring in it. Still, adhering to my
1ormer resolution, made no theoretical deduc-
lions, and regarded the Identification of these
}ery letters as dependent upon the discovery of
additional proofs These l shortly obtained,
4nd in such numbers rs to form an overwhelm-
Ing weight of testimony to the accuracy of my de-
(uctiOns. | have now copied no less than twelve
Inscriptions in which the Greek and Sinaitc
Pccur together undoubtedly by the same hand,
bnd have been enabled, by their means, not to
Construct an alphabet, but to demonstrate the
salue of every letter of the Sinaitic.
have been thus far particular in describing
he method by which the results am now about
% communicate have been attained, as | am
|ure that in question upon which so many con-
fictng opinions have been formed, l shall
otherwise hardly escape the imputatiOn of theo-
riZing or partisanship.
The inscriptions consist of detached sentences,
IN n Sinaitic or rather Arampan dialect for the
most part proper names with such Introductory
formulP as Oriental peoples have beenfr time
lmmemoral accustomed to prefix to their cOmpO-
* sidOns. Thus far they accord with the account
given by COsmas lndicopleustes; and see no rea-
f0n why, without arguing for too remote origin,
bis Jewish fellow-travellers should nothave been
ble to read as he asserts they did, inscriptions
in language and character so cognate to their
pwn The alphabet of Sinaitic inscriptions
agrees in part with that constructed by the late
Prof. Beer, whose work | have since consulted
and who seems to have recognized the existence OF
the bilingual inscription to which first alluded.
II have no doubt that had that eminent scholar
Possessed opportunities of studying the writings
sta, or at least OF obtaining accurate tran
Scripts, he would have succeeded in correct
rendering OF the whole; as 1t is, his alphabet is
but partially correct only so far as he was fur
hished with accurate data on which to proceed
10 his theory concerning the authorship of tho
Inscriptions | cannot give so full assent. Thai
hey are the production of q Semitic, or rather
Anm9an, people is true, but that they are the
work of Nabatt9an pilgrims is an assertion that
rests on conjecture alone. They are the work
not of pilgrims, but rather of a commercial com
nunity who inhabited, or Mt least colonized, the
Peninsula for the first few centuries of the Chris
ian era That many of the writer's were Chris
ian is proved by the numerous Christian signs
they used, but il is equally clear from inter
3nal evidence that large proportion of then
- were pagans. The writing must have extended
nto the monksh times, possibly until the spread
D ell Islam brought the ancestors of the presen
inhabitants, Bedawin hOrdes, from ell HejaZ ant
Rbther parts of Arabia proper o the mountains o
Sinai, and dispersed, or absorbed that Saracel
population of whom the monks stood in sucl
mortal dread. "Saracen" is necessarily yagu
em, but purposely abstain from definition
z which involves historical detail until can obta
access to historical works of references; and
- will say no more here than that the traces G
his former occupation of the Peninsula and tn
nature and localities of the inscriptions accord
we'll with the accounts by Arab historians, that
|eel confident of being able to bring as great
eight of testimony to bear on the authorshi
@ Df the inscriptions rs, | am happy to say, haY
7 lready collected in support of my interprC
Il ation.
AZ The appearance and numbers of the inscril
..'s* ions the instruments with which they Wer
W xecuted the physical features of Wady Muka
Il seb these are points concerning which trave
ers have been as much misled rs concerning tl
interpretations and of which the researches
Mr. Holland and myself enable lis to give salts
II factory account. But these and other details
cave until our return. | trust however, that
Ave said sufficient to prove that Captain Wllso
as justified in stating in his last report tnat
Will nd fOund the kew To the Sinaitac Inscription