maelites: these Arabs say, that until the time of their patriarch
Yaarab the language of the family was pure Syriac.* It
was observed by Ludolf, that the Gheez, or Ethiopic, has a
near affinity to the older dialects of the Semitic language,
and that even the roots of many Hebrew words which are
lost in Hebrew and the other cognate dialects, are still extant
in the Gheez; and Professor Murray, who, since the time
of Ludolfj has devoted perhaps more study to the Gheez than
any other European scholar, considered that language to be
a very ancient Arabian dialect, approaching much more nearly
to the Hebrew than the Arabic of the Koran.f
It is possible that an inquiry into the art of writing prac\
tised by the Arabs of Hamyar and the forms of their alphabetic
character may throw some light on their connexion
with the Abyssinians. It is admitted on all hands, that the
Hamyarites were acquainted with the use of letters many
centuries before the time of Mohammed. Their characters,
which were termed “ A1 Mosnad,” are -said to be preserved on
ancient monuments still existing: they were perfectly distant
from the Kufie letters which were invented not .lone; be-
fore the time of Mohammed, in a city of Irak, and in which
Hie Koran was for a long time written. But little or nothing
more is known respecting these Hamyaritic characters,. Sale
says that they were not separately written, but M. Marcel is .
of opinion that they were distinct letters, and supposes that
they resembled the characters found in the P&rsepolitan inscriptions,
and consequently those of the Babylonian bricks. -
These opinions appear to be merely conjectural: the description
would rather agree with the Samaritan or Phoenician letters,
which may have been communicated to the Hamyarites at an
early period by the Phoenicians who are well known to have
carried on the traffic of the East, and to have made their constant
resort to the havens of Yemen. It has been commonly
* Salt. Prelim. Disc. p. 33.
+ At the end of this section the reader will find a table of numerals in the Hebrew,
Arabic, Gheez, or Old Ethiopic, the Tigran, or modem dialect of the Axu-
mite kingdom, in the Amharic, the Agow, and in the language of Arkeeko and
Harrur, which, though spoken beyond the present boundaries of Abyssinia, are
analogous with respect to the numerals to the languages of that empire, modified
as they are by the Geez.
supposed by modem, ivri|i'tey.j,though Bruce- would not admit
that supposition, That the Gheez* alphabet was. unknown to
the Abyssins previouslyüéo^theirfJoonvétsfenViolGhristianity j;
that-iff was-invented ?for the pXhplos.as! ofiiMROducin^. among
them the knowledg^,j©j|4fh4^Bbiiptures. But ’no person- who
considers the - complex afid- the< Gbopz
alphabet can for a moment entertain the »idea;/that it was invented
by Fmmèntius or by any individual; acquaintéd with
Rofuan jQr Greek, oï^eivénfGopticdetïcBS.^^lïlie^comjyaïifpn'of
the* Gheez alphabet with the different form^jd^he Samaritan
and Phmnieian'1 letters^ .seems to de^de vtjijh'iQuestion
many'iof the Ethiopic lette^cdinaiide i n t h e characters
of those alphabets-:as to leave» [no+r©om .fOBjdoubt sis^tq.
their real origin; and.'it>is. mpsriprobable, • that; the alphabetic
system used by the Abyssins,,Was .obtained*by tfeem,\thro|gg}f\
the medium ®f| fhe Hamyarites. IL tbf^fe#®sl#t#lfs^had
been .introduced immediately by Jews, -the- arranggia|gn±. pf
ihe Hebféw alphabet would most probably^: hvg'$éï been
servé'ftfl If,» on the other hand, letters>hadrbiéen. in^en^tó^r
the* Ethiopians bjy Frumentius ,or his Tollow^rs^th ey&would,
as I have, before hinted, have .contrived them on simple!;'
plan, and on one formed on the model of the ‘^j^e^cultivated
languages.
„ Conclusion. Remarks on the physical characters of
the Abyssinians.
It seems on the whole most probable - that the Abaseni
whom* UraniuS placed on the Asiatic side- of the-Arabian
Gulf, in the neighbourhood of the Arabs, of Hamyar, were
originally a, branch of that people, the reputed descendants
of Kahtan, who, at a period not- to be ascertained} but probably
preceding by some ages the Christian era, passed the
straits of Babel-mandeb into Africa, and gained possession .of
the kingdom of Axum. There, through iut'etcQursc.yrith more
cultivated nations, and particularly with the people of Egypt
and of the Ethiopian cities on the Nile,' they ;aèdjuired/s,ome
knowledge of arts, and even of the Greek language and architecture.
The .kings of Axum embraced' the polytheism-yof
Egypt, abandoning the Sabaism of their forefathers; they sub