The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-10-10
LEE oRIGIN OF LEE ALPHABET.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ALPHABET.
Inmy excavation Of the prehistoric
palace at Knossos I came upon a series Of
deposits OF clay tablets. representing the
royal archives, the Inscriptions on which
belong to two distinct systems OF writing
one hieroglyphic and quasi pictorial +;
the other for the most part linear and
much more highly developed. OF these
the hieroglyphic class especially repre-
sents a series Of forms answering to what,
according to the names Of the Phenician
letters, We must suppose to have been
the original pictorial designs from which
these, too, were derived. A series Of con-
jectural recOnstFuctlons Of the originals,
the Phenician letters on this line vera
in fact, drawn out by my father, Sir
John Evans, for a lecture on the origin
Of the alphabet, given at the Royal in
stitution, IN 1872, and it may be said that
two-thirds Of these resemble almost line
for line actual forms OF Cretan hero
glyphics. The oxhead (Aleph), the
house (Beth J., the window (He), the peg
7
(4od), seen sideways; ana the open palm
(Kaph); the fish (Nun); the post or
trunk (Sapekh); the eye (Ain); :the
mouth (Pe); the tssth lShin); the cross
sIgn (Iau); not to speak Of several other
probable examples, are all literally repro
duced.
The analogy thus supplied is. indeed,
overwhelming. 1t Is impossible to be.
lieVe that while on one side OF the East
81 17r7 f-o- ot41
prototypes were naturally evolving them
selves, the people OF the opposite shore
were arriving at the same result, BY a
complicated process Of selection and
TRANSFORMATION Of a series OF hieratic
Egyptian signs derived from quite differ
ent objects.
The analogy with the Cretsn bierogly-
PHO form certainly weighs strongly in
favor Of the simple and natural explana
ton Of the origin of the PbqnicAn lei
tiers, Whioh vas held from the time Of
Gesepius onWarda, and was only dis
turbed By the extremely ingenions,
though o7er-elaborate, theory OF De
Rouge,
Whether, however, the PhOeniciap let
ters, OF rather their pictorial originals,
were actually selected from the Cretan
is a different question, and on
this wished to express myself more
l.
deed, so striking that they certainly seem
to point to, at least, a generic connection
though one form at least, the camel's |
head and neck (Gimel), must have been
adopted on Syrian soil.
What l Ventured to suggest at the Brad |
ford meeting was that the points Of COM |
munity might be ultimately explained by |
the powerful settlement Of the Hgean
island peoples on the coast of Canaan, |
or1f-- ri frrk h, nd hn
abiding name Of Palestine. The Biblical /
traditions, which gave part-O them. at
least, the name Of Kerethim or Cretans |
have been recently confirmed by an i'm
pOrtant piece OF Egyptian evidence going !
far to show that KaphtOr, whence they |
additionally came, is the same as the |
insular realm of the Kefts, sthe chief
representatives OF Mycenean culture on
Dynasty monuments. The
prolonged sojourn Of the CaphtOrim or
Phillstipes, IN their new home, would |
itself explain the absorption Of local ele-
ments amcng the hieroglyphic forms that
they had originally brought over. We
know that they shortly lost their indi-
genQus speech and became SemitiZed.
On the walls Of the tomb of Rekhmara
the Governor Of Thebes under Ihothmes
Hin the first half, that is, of the If
tenth century B. C,-the Keft ohieftRins
49, ~~-tAAA43
ingOts, and golden 0xheads as tributary
gifts to Pharaoh. 1t IS OF great interest |
III relation to the chronology Of the clay |
archives OF Knossos that on several OF |
the tablets, with linear Inscriptions /
this case, no doubt, containing inYen- |
tories of the royal treasure-there appear |
beside the written record pictorial repIes-
entations of vases, ingots, and oxheads, |
precisely similar to those OF the Egyptian /
painting. 1t seems probable from this |
that part of the clay archives Of the
palace of Knossossgo back to the fifteenth |
century B. c.. The date Of the most re-
cent is at all events limited by that of /
the destruction Of the palace itself, Of /
the numerous relics found within this
great building there are none which |
point to period as late as the latest |
prehistoric elements of Mycenee itself. 1t
would be extremely unsafe to bring down /
anything found within its walls later |
than, at most, the twelfth ontury B, /
C.-Arthur J. Evans in London Times,