of the Letters of the Hieroglyphic Alphabet. 217 
fig. 165, it appears to me plain that it is not a syllabic sign for ker, as the other 
two instances might render probable, and as I think it likely that it was at an 
earlier period. In TiK, “a spark” (Sahidic T1K), which occurs on the sarcoph- 
agus of Seti I. and in other words, which will be found Pl. 17, |. 2, Pl. 23, 1. 4, 
Pl. 30, 1. 1, &c., it is clearly alphabetic, and was so at a much earlier periop, 
though I cannot say how early. In the inscriptions at Wadi Magara, Brut. 
E. H. 12, which are of the third age, it occurs frequently, forming a part of the 
name of that place, which was the land of MaWAK, fig. 169. This word sig- 
nifies “‘copper,” or rather “ copper ore,” having the determinative sign of stones, 
in place of that of metals, which it usually has. In the principal inscription, Hat- 
hor, Venus, is called the mistress of the copper country ; a curious coincidence, 
to say the least. 
As the primitive use of this character as an ideograph, and afterwards as an 
ideo-phonograph, is important to ascertain, and as it appears to me that much 
mistake has prevailed in respect to it, I will state my views on the subject. The 
original meaning was “the arms;” so it is repeatedly used on steles of the twelfth 
dynasty, both with and without the vertical bar. In my paper on the stele I 
read it Az, and translated it “reception ;” connecting it, as others had done, with 
the Coptic 61. This, however, is a false relationship, the word being used with 
the preposition from, as well as with ¢o, as Pl. 12, 1. 8; and in the plural, several 
givers being mentioned, PI. 20, 1. 5. It does not then imply receiving, but the 
arms, as used in either giving or receiving. It signifies, secondly, ‘a stand,” in 
the shape of a pair of arms, such as is represented on many steles, on which offer- 
ings, and particularly chiva, the perfume in common use, were placed. In this 
sense the word is used Pl. 21, |]. 3, “ great stands of chiva;” and in PI. 87, 1. 2. 
Rameses the Great is praised for having “filled the stands with chiva.’’ In this 
sense the word is used in several royal preenomens, and that so early as the fourth 
dynasty ; for in the tomb of Teta a female is mentioned, whose name is evidently 
derived from such a prenomen. It also signifies, as a verb, “to uphold,” or 
“bear by the arms ;” and, as a noun derived from this, a “bearer,” applied in 
various sculptures, as Wilk. pl. xlvii., to these who are represented bearing a naos 
or palanquin. In this sense also it is used in at least one prenomen, that of 
Queen Amunet, who called herself ‘ Pharaoh the upholder of truth.” In none 
of these senses have I been able to discover any cognate words in Coptic or in 
VOL. XXI. QE 
