Dr. Schliemann found a form
like this on inscriptions deep in the ruins of Troy, ### . This is
exactly the form found on the American monuments.
The Maya i is ### ; this became in time ### ; this developed into a
still simpler form, ### ; and this passed into the Phoenician form, ###
. The Samaritan i was formed thus, ### ; the Egyptian letter i is ### :
gradually in all these the left-hand line was dropped, and we come to
the figure used on the stone of Moab, ### and ### ; this in time became
the old Hebrew ### , or ### ; and this developed into the Greek ### .
We have seen the complicated symbol for m reduced by the Mayas
themselves into this figure, ### : if we attempt to write this rapidly,
we find it very difficult to always keep the base lines horizontal;
naturally we form something like this, ### : the distinctive figure
within the sign for m in the Maya is ### or ### . We see this repeated
in the Egyptian hieroglyphics for m, ### , and ### , and ### ; and in
the Chaldaic m, ### ; and in the Ethiopic ### . We find one form of the
Phoenician where the m is made thus, ### ; and in the Punic it appears
thus, ### ; and this is not unlike the m on the stone of Moab, ### , or
the ancient Phoenician forms ### , ### , and the old Greek ### , or the
ancient Hebrew ### , ### .
Pages:
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348