June3] SOCIETYOF UIULICAL ARCHEOLOGY. 1890.
Nose, andan original nasal. In Africa thereare forms of words
correspondingto the Cypriote syllable.
Similarremarksare to be made as to the other syllables here
illustrated.
Thereasonsfor searching in the negro countriesof Africa are
sufficient. It is not to be assumed thatthosenegrotribeshaveany
relationshipin blood withthe Cypriotes. Thereis no reason how
ever,whythosenegrotribesmaynot have derivedlanguages and
characters from common sources of culture with the Cypriotes.
Indeed,the neighbours of the Vy people in the Republic of Liberia
use the English languageandthe English characters,but we well
knowtheyare negroes whoin the last generationcame fromthe
UnitedStates,bringingwiththem our language. TheVy syllabary,
whereconformingto the Cypriote, has seldom the same sound,and
the Vy often differsfromthe neighbouring languages. Theneigh
bouringlanguages,however,illustrateCypriotesounds,andalsothe
symbolson the autonomous Greekcoins. It results thaton looking
intothoseneighbouringgroupswe do find illustrationsof Cypriote
philologyof a non-Aryan class.
Thecoinsof Cyprus availableare few, but as they conformto
the other autonomouscoinsknownas Greek, we have no difficulty
in turning them to account. The symbols on the autonomous
coinswillbe found to connect themselveswiththe names of the
towns. Salamisin Cyprus is an example, but one thatwill serve
betteris Byzantium in Thrace (Busant). On its coins we find the
Crescent or Moon, Bull, Fish, Corn, Quiver, Ship, &c. These
symbolsare reproduced on coins as in the following examples: Bull,
Buxentum,Li-bisona,Fcestum,Sino-pe; Moon, Sandalium, Isindus,
Pcestum; Fish, Li-bisona, Sino-pe, Pcestum, Butuntum; Corn,
Isindus, Bisanthe, Me-ssana; Quiver, Isindus; Ship, Nar-basis;
Grapes,Bizanthe,Sinope,Bithynium.*
Forall these objectswordswillbe found in the corresponding
existing languages; but in the case of each city, although the
generalnamewordis one, eachsymbolis expressed in a different
language. We know tnatin the Greek and Romanperiods there
were cities,as Ephesus and Rome, consistingof quarters, seated
on various hillsand bearingdistinctnames. At an early period,
* Hyde Clarke,EarlyHistoryof the Mediterranean Populations,Trubner,
1SS2.
464