verified--a lion representing L in both cartouches. We will not attempt to trace the

whole series, the reader who attempts a complete comparison will find that some signs do

not agree; as in English, so it was discovered in Egyptian that one sound could be

represented by more than one sign, but be careful collation and comparison the sound

value of every sign was established.

The question which arose in the mind of those who attempted the decipherment of

these Egyptian characters was, Are they letters of an alphabet, or do they represent ideas?

Champollion, a Frenchman, was convinced that that Coptic language would throw a light

upon the ancient Egyptian.  It is common knowledge that the Hebrew alphabet is

connected with some kind of pictorial representation, thus the equivalent to A, B, G, D

are Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth. Now while the English names A, B, G, D have no

meaning other than the names of these letters, the Hebrew names have a meaning apart

from the letters, Aleph meaning an ox, Beth a house, Gimel a camel, and Daleth a door;

the pictorial representation of the ox or the house was used to indicate the opening sound

of the word. Champollion's practically inspired idea of the relation between Coptic and

ancient Egyptian led the way through this difficult subject to the elaboration of both

alphabet and grammar. The Coptic name for lion is labo, and the value if the sign of a

lion is found to be that of its first letter L (see No. 2 in Kleopatra, and No. 4 in

Ptolemaios). The Coptic word for eagle was Ahom, and in the Hieroglyphics an eagle

stand for A, which is No. 9 in the cartouche of Kleopatra. Hand is Tot and stand for T in

Kleopatra; the letter T in Ptolemy is, however, another shape--that of a semi-circle. This

sign will be found in the cartouche of Kleopatra (No. 10), and it was finally discovered

that there were two signs for the sound T, and that the semicircle which came at the end

of the titles of queens, princesses, and goddesses was the feminine article.

We cannot go further in this interesting subject without embarking on a more detailed

explanation of the Egyptian language and characters. Sufficient, however, has been

shown we believe to justify the value that is set upon the Rosetta Stone, and to call forth

the thanksgiving of believers for the Providence that is thereby manifested by its

preservation and discovery.

Following the plan which was given in the series "Introductory" (Volume 4: & 5:,

pages 16-18), we pass from the antiquities of the Egyptians to those of a no less

interesting and important people, the Assyrians, and enter the Assyrian Transept. The

Assyrians were a Semitic people, speaking a language closely allied to Hebrew. Maspero

says of them:--