290 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



to sink into Amenti or the Western Hades, whence he rose everj 

 morning from tlie Eastern horizon. One journey of the sun-god 

 being a day, the same word Ra denoted both the sun and also a day. 

 The serpent was the symbol for asp, and also denoted a " god," and 

 is found on the crown of some of the old Egyptian rulers, signifying 

 the power and wisdom of the king. It is quite easy to perceive the 

 figurative use of the serpent form. The sting of the Cobra was 

 incurable by any known Egyptian remedy. Probably, therefore, to 

 propitiate it, and also as a tacit acknowledgment of its deadly power, 

 they gave it a place in their Pantheon. 



The segment of a circle signified both the moon and a month, for 

 the Egyptian month seems to have been determined by the lunar 

 revolutions, and the year to have consisted of so many of them, with 

 intercalated days at the end of the year. 



In the old Assyrian the same method vvas adopted with a slight 

 variation. The wedges placed as nearly as possible in the form of a 

 circle denoted the sun. Three angular figures denote 30. These 

 figures placed within the circle denoted the month, consisting of 30 

 days. The modern Assyrian form was modified into - ~ " \, with 

 the phonetic value of Arkhu. 



From the earliest historic time the Egyptian hieroglyphs were 

 phonetic. They represented either a letter or a syllable, which was 

 resolvable into its separate letters. The following method was 

 adopted in employing a sign to convey a particular sound. They 

 employed an object, which was denoted by a word, whose first letter 

 was identical in sound with that which they wished to express. 

 Hence the Eagle was the sign of the A sound, because the name of 

 the Eagle in Egyptian Akhom contained in its first letter the sound 

 required. A reptile became the sign of the letter T for the same 

 reason, for the first letter of Tetef, the Egyptian for reptile, begins 

 with the sound required. 



The Egyptians increased the difficulties of their language by 

 arbitrarily employing a number of signs to convey the same sound. 

 To denote the sound of A they used a palm branch, the figui'e of an 

 Eagle, and a hand with the arm outstretched to the elbow. 



To express the sound of the letter T they used the palm of the 

 hand ; two parallel lines, united at one end by a curved line and 

 terminating at the other in small circles ; and the segment of a circle. 

 Their numerous syllabic signs, and the use of various signs to express 



