Brinton.] 4b [Feb. 7, 



in). I am inclined to believe it identical with the leku tribe of 

 the Libyan enemies of Meneptah I. * 



The prefix Mas. Throughout the Libyan dialects Mas is an 

 initial syllable of many personal names, and was common in the 

 earliest times, applied both to persons and to gentes, e. g.: f 



Mas-aesyli, an ethnic name. 



Mas-ight, " " 



Mas-ulis, or Musulus, an ethnic name. 



Mas-adkam, a person (Inscrip. 27). 



Mas-wa, " (Inscrip. 34). 



Mas-oulat, " (Inscrip. 31 ). 



Mas-i, " (Inscrip. 32). 



Mas-sira " (Inscrip. 50 ). 



Mas sivo, " 



Mas-akra, " (Inscrip. 221, etc.). 



Mas-ilal " 



In Roman historians we find : 

 Mas-inissa, a Numidian king. 

 Mas-tumus, " prince. 



Mas-timan, " deity. 



Mas-intha, " noble. 



And numerous other examples. 



General Faidherbe calls attention to the frequency of this prefix, 

 and both he and Prof. Halevy are inclined to derive it from a root 

 " to beget," and assign it the signification of " son of," " children 

 of," etc. J 



This derivation is doubtful, as its radical has not such a significa- 

 tion in modern Berber. In the Touareg dialect mess or messi means 

 ruler, lord, master, and mas, a paternal uncle.§ The former signifi- 

 cations are the most applicable and fill all the conditions of the 

 employment of this prefix to personal and tribal names. 



This same prefix appears with almost equal frequency in Etruscan 

 proper names, especially those of prominent people and families, 

 as the following examples show : 



Mas-tarna (Etr. Macstrna), the Etr. appellation of Servius Tul- 



* Comp. Hal£vy, Essai, pp. Ill, 1"3, etc. 



t See Faidherbe, Collection Complete des Inscriptions Numidiques, pp. 22, 36. 



X Essai d' Epigraphie Libyque, p. 126. 



I Newman, Libyan Vocabulary, p. 196. 



