Feb. 14. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



149 



sentait un peu le pere Harduin," and it was only 

 published in the posthumous edition of his works. 

 De Gauley has published coins struck by the 

 Arabs in Africa, which have Latin legends, in 

 some of which the Arabic titles are given in Latin 

 ktters. The Emir Musa Ben Nasir appears 

 thus, MuSE . F.NASiR. AMiRA. The coins of Va- 

 balathus offer a more ancient example of the same. 

 I have given what appears to me the clue, and I 

 hope it will be followed out by Orientalists. 

 M. de Longperier, in his annotations to the 28th 

 letter, shows that the name 'Afl^na; is derived from 

 'A0r,yiiu^6(. and appears to think A0hnot or aohnt 

 the genitive of aqhnac. The difficulty, he says, is, 

 that names in «,- have, in the Alexandrian dialect, 

 the genitive ««,-. He does not appear to have 

 noticed the reading as ti»c (or or as o rioC ?), 

 which appears to me to remove the difficulty, but 

 also to obviate the necessity of the name 'ab-oS-s at 

 all. He remarks on the similarity of name be- 

 tween ABvivas, ABr,rans, and Odenathus. 



" If," he says, " we examine comparatively Vabalath 

 (OTABAAAQ) and Odenath, or rather Odanath, as in 

 Zosimus, we see an analogous formation ; Ou-baalat, 

 Ou-tanat, the feminine of Baal or Bel, and of Tan, 

 .Dan, or Zan, preceded by the same syllable, Baalat 

 is a Sci-iptiire form (Jos. xix. 44. ; ] Kings, ix. 48. ; 

 Paral. ii. viii. 6. ). De Gauley has found the name of 

 Tanat in a Phoenician inscription, and Lenormant re- 

 marks that this feminine form of Zan, or Jupiter, cor- 

 responds to Athene. Thus Ou-tanat is the equivalent 

 of Athenas, consequently of Athenodorus." 



Vabalathus is thus. If these etymological con- 

 siderations be correct, the son of Odenathus. 

 Longperier proposes to read epojTAC for cpujIAC, 

 and to consider this the equivalent of Herodes, 

 mentioned by Trebellius PoUio, With all de- 

 ference to M. de Longperier, I venture to oppose 

 the following objections. First, Some coins read 

 cpiac, which would read gPTAC on his principle. 

 Since, in the coins of Zenobia, "Vabalathus, and 

 those bearing the name of Athenodorus, Avhether 

 struck by Vabalathus or not, is not material at 

 present, we find the names at full length, not 

 omitting the vowels, it is natural to suppose that 

 fhe same would here take place, if the word really 

 were the name of Herodes. To explain, if we 

 found ZHNOBiA and ZNOBIA, aohnoaoipoc and 

 A0NAPOC, or similar contractions, we might con- 

 sider ePuuTAC and gptac identical. Secondly, On 

 my specimens of this coin I find the i in this word 

 distinctly formed, and the T in the next word att 

 as distinct. All authors have read this letter i, 

 although varying in the rest. Thirdly, On the 

 obverse of these specimens the e is larger and 

 more open than the c, as may be seen in the con- 

 clusion . . . Noc . ceB, where it is preceded by two 

 sigmas, and is easy to compare with them. We 

 should naturally expect to find it having the same 

 form on the reverse, if the reading e^CDTAC were 



correct. But it is of the same size as the other 

 letters, on my specimens at least. I need not say 

 that there is no trace of the central stroke. 



W. H. S. 

 Edinburgh. 



THE AGNOMEN OF " BROTHER JONATHAN," OF 

 MASONIC ORIGIN. 



George Washington, commander-in-chief of 

 the American array in the revolution, was a 

 mason, as were all the other generals, with the 

 solitary exception of Arnold the traitor, who at- 

 tempted to deliver West Point, a most important 

 position, into the hands of the enemy. It was this 

 treasonable act on the part of Arnold which caused 

 the gallant Andre's death, and ultimately placed a 

 monument over his remains in Westminster Abbey. 

 On one occasion, when the American army had 

 met with some serious reverses. General Washing- 

 ton called his brother officers together, to consult 

 in what manner their effects could be the best 

 counteracted. Differing as they did in opinion, 

 the commander-in-chief postponed any action on 

 the subject, by remarking, " Let us consult brother 

 Jonathan," referring to Jonathan Trumbull, who 

 was a well-known mason, and particularly dis- 

 tinguished " for his sound judgment, strict morals, 

 and having the tongue of good report." 



George Washington was initiated a mason in 

 Federlcksburg, Virginia, Lodge No. 4, on the 4th of 

 November, 1752, was passed a fellow craft on the 

 3rd of March, 1753, and raised to the sublime 

 degree of a master mason on the 4th day of Au- 

 gust, 1753. The hundredth anniversary of this 

 distinguished mason's Initiation is to be celebrated 

 In America throughout the length and breadth of 

 the land. W. W. 



La Valetta, Malta. 



Hippopotamus, Behemoth. — The young animal 

 which has drawn so much attention hitherto, will 

 increase In attractiveness as he acquires his voice, 

 for which the zoologist may now arectis auribus 

 await the development. It has appeared singular 

 to inany who knew the Greek name of this animal 

 to signify river-horse, that he should be so unlike 

 a horse. Nevertheless, the Greeks who knew him 

 only at a distance, as we did formerly, named him 

 from his voice and ears after an animal which he 

 so little resembles In other respects. The Egyptian 

 words from which the Behemoth of Job (chap. xl. 

 v. 10.) are derived, more fitly designate him as 

 water-ox, 5-eAe-moM<= literatim, the aqitatic ox. 



T. W. B. 

 Lichfield. 



Curious Inscription (Vol. iv., pp. 88. 182.). — My 

 ecclesiological note-book supplies two additional 



