2 BemarJcs on two silver pieces. [Jan., 



The following gentlemen have intimated their desire to withdraw 

 from the Society : 



1. S. S. Jones, Esq., C. S. 



2. E. H. Man, Esq. 



The Philological Secretaet reported that he had received several 

 letters regarding the silver pieces belonging to Col. Clerk and exhibited 

 at the August meeting of the Society, (see Proceedings for August, 

 pp. 127, 128). It would be remembered, that both pieces bore inscrip- 

 tions, which at that time no one had been able to decipher, though the 

 general opinion seemed to be that they were in rude Grreek or Pali 

 characters. He had now much pleasure in informing the meeting, that 

 with regard to one of the pieces — the narrow oblong one, ornamented 

 with a ram's head, and figured on page 128 of the Proceedings for 

 August — the mystery appears to have been solved by Mr. Beames, who 

 first pointed out that they are evidently Semitic, and in particular some 

 form of Aramaic. The subjoined extract from his letter, dated 18th 

 November last, explains his view : — 



" I have just received the August number of the Proceedings, re- 

 garding the coins sent by Col. Clerk figured on pp. 127, 128. I note that 

 no one can as yet read the inscriptions, owing, I suppose, to their having 

 only thought of Greek or Pali. It has apparently escaped notice that the 

 characters are clearly Semitic, some form of Aramaic or Himyaritic, they 

 do not quite agree with any form that I have seen, though I have 

 compared them with a good many of the inscriptions figured in the 

 Zeitschrift d. D. M. G. Those on the oblong block figured at the top of 

 p. 128 of the Proceedings (which is probably an amulet to be worn 

 round the neck) agree pretty closely with several of the inscriptions in 

 Vol. XXI Y of the Zeitschrift, and may almost be called Palmyrene. 

 I read the letters Klim i. e., from right to left w, kh, d, b, a. From 

 the word beginning with ") one would conjecture (if the language is 

 also Semitic) that it was a continuation of a sentence running along 

 all four faces of the amulet. But as of course you know Hazvaresh 

 and Pahlavi were written in Semitic characters, so the word may be 

 Persian. I cannot make out the letters on the coin quite satisfactorily 

 .though I distinguish ^ several times, also ^ and 1 ; one is tempted to 

 read the word on the left hand side of the reverse as ^j? Aayov sugges- 

 tive of the Ptolemies, but this is mere conjecture. I have no claim 

 to much practice in reading coins, but perhaps this hint may be of use to 

 experts in such matters." 



The Philological Secretary then stated that he communicated Mr, 

 Beames' letter to Colonel W. P. Prideaux, whose intimacy with Semitic 

 inscriptions was well-known^'- and he would now read his reply, from 



