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resulted from it ; then of the Samaritan alphabet ; and lastly, of the older 
Hebrew character. Is that different from the Samaritan character ? 
Dr. Thornton.— Oh, yery different— something similar to the Phoenician. 
The Chairman— Is not the Samaritan the same ? 
Dr. Thornton.— Oh no, not at all. The character which we now call Hebrew 
is the Babylonish ; properly the Chaldee character. But there is a still older 
character which bears a strong similarity to the Phoenician. It is found in 
its earliest form, I believe, in some inscriptions in Numidia, in company with 
Egyptian hieroglyphs. That character is very different from what we call the 
square Hebrew or the Babylonish character. 
Rev. Dr. Rigg.— May I ask where these characters are to be found ? 
Dr. Thornton.— They are preserved on the Maccabean coins, and have 
been recognized in inscriptions. I think you will find them in the Phoenician 
inscriptions of Gesenius. 
Mr. Row.— Dr. Payne Smith gives some of them. 
The Chairman.— There is an article in the Penny Cyclopedia which 
gives a representation of the ordinary square Hebrew, and then of the 
Samaritan, or ancient Hebrew, without making any distinction between the 
two latter. 
Dr. Thornton.— The Samaritan was one form, but a different form, of 
Hebrew writing. The older Hebrew form was that which you will find in 
Gesenius’s Phoenician inscriptions, and on coins in the British Museum. 
The Chairman.— The old Hebrew character is the character in which the 
Samaritan Pentateuch is written ? 
Dr. Thornton.— That is in the Samaritan character. 
Dr. Rigg. —There were, in fact, three forms in use among the Hebrews : 
the ancient Hebrew, the Hebrew equivalent to the Samaritan, and the 
Chaldee ? . 
Dr. Thornton.— Yes ; but the Chaldee was not in use till after the 
Captivity, the old Hebrew being used before. 
The Chairman. — There is scarcely any more difference between the square 
Babylonish character and the Samaritan character than there is between our 
writing and our printing characters. The whole character of the Hebrew 
square writing is such writing as a man would produce by using a reed ; the 
other, such as would be produced by incised work, such as cutting inscrip- 
tions. In that article in the Penny Cyclopedia , to which I have referred, if 
you trace the Greek character and the Roman character from the ancient 
Syriac, which they consider the oldest type, there is not so great a difference 
between the Greek character and the Samaritan as there is between the 
Samaritan and the square Hebrew. In many instances you will find it is 
just the sort of character which you get in writing with a pliant reed. 
Dr. Thornton. — The Samaritan in its present state is not similar to the 
Hebrew. 
The Chairman.— No, there is a great difference ; but if you take the 
Greek character, which originated from the Phoenician, there is no greater 
difference than in the square Hebrew derived from the Samaritan. 
