144 Ancient documents engraved on copper in possession [No.30 



repeated ten times. It is probably an expression equivalent 

 to the J>|<i> of the Cufic document and should serve as a 

 clue to make out the whole. The last word is found six 

 times. A word in the middle of the second line is the first 

 of the fourth and a word in the fifth line occurs three times. 



* 



One of the most important points in the Jewish or III. 

 document is the determination of the date regarding which 

 the following conjecture is hazarded, being the conclusion 

 arrived at in an attempt to translate the grant itself three or 

 four years ago. 



The words are, " irand&m-andeikk' -etir-muppatt'-aram- 

 andu" which appeared to mean " the 36th year" [of the 

 Cycle] " correspon ding with the second year" [of the reign] 

 or it may be the ooth year of the Cycle opposed to or in con- 

 tradistinction to the 2d which would be the 3rd Cycle, i. e. of 

 Parasurama, the era prevalent in Malabar. Mr. Whish 

 rendered it the 3oth year of the 2nd Cycle. But besides 

 that the construction does not bear this meaning, it is not 

 customary to note the particular Cycle, which indeed would 

 hardly seem necessar^ in periods of 1000 years each. I con- 

 clude therefore that the first is the true rendering, the 3rd 

 Cycle or that which last closed being the one referred to, and 

 as it commenced A. D. 825, the year of the grant, the 36th, 

 would be A. D. 861. To take the 2nd Cycle would evidently 

 go too far back. This would give 139 B. C. Inscriptions 

 of that period are in a form of character much more ancient 

 from which all those now in use are proved to have been deriv- 

 ed. And to this degree of antiquity the writing in the Jewish 

 tablet possesses no claim. 



ft 



[After the No. had gone to Press, the Sub-Committee were favored by the 

 Rev. Mr. Taylor with some further observations contained in a letter from 

 Mr. Gundert to him. Mr. Gundert observes with reference to the al- 



