C 282 ] 
his alphabet. But the form of this character is total- 
ly different from that of the Phoenician Vau, efpeci-- 
aily as it is exhibited by the other Maltefe infcription, 
of which he pretends to have given us fo accurate a 
copy. Nor will the fenfe of that part of the in- 
fcription in which this letter appears afford the lead 
countenance to fuch a fuppofition. On the con- 
trary, the figure of this element well enough corref- 
ponds with that of the final fquare or Chaldee Pc, 
and the verb formed of Rcfch and Pe leems confo- 
nant enough to the tenor of the infcription. To what 
has been obferved of the letter Zain, in the fecond 
line, we may add, that this character fufficiently re- 
fembles the Hebrew and Palmyrene Zain and that 
the word HiH, dormientis, very naturally con- 
cludes the fentencc, of which it is a conlfituent part. 
All which if we admit, and allow Sig. Abate Venuti’s 
copy to be in the main exadt, as I cannot help think- 
ing it is ; the following alphabet, plainly deducible 
from that copy, will be found to contain feventeen 
of the Punic literary characters ufed in Malta, when 
our infcription firft appeared. 
The Maltefe-Punic alphabet. 
Aleph 
Beth - 
Ghimel 
Daleth 
He - - 
Vau - 
Zain - 
Heth - 
Teth - 
Jod - 
Caph - 
£ 
- - 'J 
- - 4 
- 'Ti 
- ) 
©T3 
Lamed 
Mem - 
Nun - 
Samech 
Ajin - 
Pe - - 
Tzade ■ 
Koph - 
Refch . 
Schin - 
Thau - 
AA 
yy 
rr 
uu 
0 
il 
- S* 
rn 
