ETRURIA CAPTA. 161 
Still another guttural sign, which at times replaces equally ka and ko, 
or the house and the tree, is one which resembles an arrow pointing 
downwards, or an anchor with the flukes pointing upwards. This, 
doubtless, is but another form of the tree, or of a plant, the so-called 
flukes representing the branches or lower leaves. This does not 
agree with the Cypriote, for in that syllabary the phonetic value 
assigned to the same character is fe. It is, however, one of the tree 
or plant forms in Hittite, and occurs abundantly in India and 
Siberia. In the famous edict of Asoka, it constitutes the last 
character in that monarch’s name.” 
The sibilants only remain. Two of these, in the forms C and K, 
I have already set forth when dealing with the aspirate I. The 
broad powers of S, 7.¢., sa, za, as, So, Su, are represented by a single 
character, generally read / from its resemblance to that Roman letter. 
However, the lower limb of the Etruscan character is not horizontal, 
but stands in the same relation to the perpendicular that the upper 
limb does to that of the character ba, pa. I can think of no sign 
exactly corresponding to it, although the radical sign in arithmetic 
comes near it. In the Indian inscriptions, the same values are 
represented by the perpendicular sign in geometry. Its Aztec 
equivalent is xot/ a foot. In Hittite it has the shape of a foot ora 
‘carpenter’s square. In Corean, the lower limb leaves the perpen- 
dicular above the base and slants downward, still preserving the idea 
of a foot. The upward slope of the Etruscan may be a reminiscence 
of the up-turned toe of the characteristic Hittite boot. The last 
character calling for mention is one which combines the one just 
considered with the Y-like ko.» It consists of a perpendicular, 
touched or traversed by two equidistant lines at an angle of 30° or 
more, according to the fancy of the artist. It may roughly be 
represented by a double dagger, and appears to have the phonetic 
value itch, ich, itz. It may, therefore, be the Aztec iéztli, a dart. 
In Hittite, a single dagger probably represents the same. The 
Cypriote st shows some resemblance to this character, but its value 
36 Asoka, King of Cashmere, is spoken of in the Raja Tarangini or History of the Kings of 
Cashmere, book I. sl. 101 seq., as the first royal convert to the faith of Buddha. See Troyer, 
Radja Tarangini, Tome II in loc. cit. also p. 406 seq.; and for reference to the inscriptions p. 
413. Facsimiles of some of the inscriptions are found in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic 
Society. The name of the author of the inscriptions has been read as Piyadasi, whom Indian 
scholars have identified with Asoka. I read the author’s name, which occurs frequently, but 
not in the characters read Piyadasi, as Asoka. But I find no mention of Antiovhus, Ptolemy, 
and Magas, whose names are said to appear in these proclamations. 
