490% 
ficent god;*”) ms Nu, in like manner, is 
Aun-eus, contraded into "N-en’, © the 
geod or perfect fountain :” its hterogly- 
phic adds *¢, of light” or life. . 2 Xi or 
Kf, Yk°h or Ykus-ai, contraéted into 
*KAi, is, in literal verfion, the ‘ fovereign 
temple:” yk (ux), according to Jofephus, 
or ykus (uses), as it is written by Eufe-. 
bius, being an Egyptian term, importing 
royalty, or fupreme excellence ; the radi- 
eal, perhaps of the Ethiopic QP (lyhyk), 
“tobecome perfe&,’ in oppofition to AP 
(lyhym), infirm, imperfeét.”” 0, Omi- 
cron, is Am, or, (as it 1s. pronounc- 
ed in many countries), Aum-ai-cur-on, 
curtailed into Aum-, or Om-ai-c’r-on, 
«‘ the radiant and fovereign temple of 
Ham.’ It isa pure folar hieroglyphic ; 
and is occafionally written, and particu- 
larly in an infcription on the pedeftal 
ef a w:il-known buft of Alexander the 
Great, (]; a charaéter which affords us 
an accurate reprefentation of the fquare 
pyramid (rupapss TETpayaves), aS itis termed 
by Strabo, which conftituted the celebrated 
Tower of Bel; a quadrangular edifice, 
whofe fides diverged indeed from a right 
line, but whofe divergefcence was imper- 
ceptible. The © and [) are equally, 
therefore, chara@lers expreffive of folar 
idolatry, but only by different emblems. 
u, Pt or Phi, is a mere afpirate; its 
meaning of courfe is ‘‘ breath’’—** in{pi- 
ration’—‘* oracle:”? and its device im- 
ports it to be ‘« the oracle of Python,” or 
«* the ferpent god :”’ it is from this afpi- 
rate the Latins derive their /piro, afpiro. 
p, R6, is perhaps Eroé (epan), contracte 
into ’re’; a Greek term, implying 
© a fpring or fountain ;*’ and which is 
here ufed xat” e£oyny. for ‘¢ the {pring or 
fountain ;""=—the word alfo implies an 
overflowing or flood; and may perhaps be 
employed to exprefs the deluge itielf. It 
is a general expreffion, and, by its hiero- 
glyphic, appertains equally to the ark and 
the ferpent. =, Sigma, or Sykma, is pro- 
bably As-}k-am-ai, abbreviated into ’S- 
yk-’m-ai, “* the temple of Ham, the Ra- 
diant Prince,’* or ** Lord of the Sun ;” 
the element as or ais, importing light, or 
the fun himielf, the fource of light; and 
being apparently the radical of the Greek 
eus (svz), excellent or perfect. T, Tau, 
originally Taut, is merely the Phoenician 
name for Noah, Theut, or Thoth; who, 
among this nation was called Taautes ; 
as among the Celts he was denominated 
Teutates. Noah was not only the former, 
but the guide and protector, of the ark x 
this latter charaéter is implied by the hie~ 
Mr. Gcod on the Origin of the Greek Alphabets 
[Jars Ip 
roglyphic itfelf, which is altogether ophite;: 
and we may hence fee how eafily the ark-’ 
ite, folar, and ferpentine idolatry convert 
into each other; for the ferpent is fome= 
times the protector of the ark as well_as 
Noah: Noah was Ofiris ; Ofris, Apollo; 
Apollo, the Sol Python. We have met 
with the fame name, varied only a littie 
in its enunciation, applied already to ano- 
ther character in the alphabet—I mean the. 
@, Theta, or Theuta; but thefe inftances 
are not uncommon, and the very next let- 
ter furnithes us with another example. 
Y, Ypfilon, or Upfilon (Ips-el-on), is, as 
already obferved under the hieroglyphic FE, 
‘¢ the glorious arkite god:'’ the device 
is unlike the former, though each of them 
apply to the arkite ferpent—the two names 
have a trifling variance in their enuncia- 
tion for the mere purpofe of difcrimina- 
tion. 9, Phi; this, like the term Pi, is 
a mere afpirate; they are the fame words, 
with a {mall variation alone in the mode of 
pronouncing them: their meaning, of 
courfe, is alike. x, Chi, or Ki, con- 
tracted from Yk-ai into ’K-ai, or "K°-i:' 
its interpretation, like that of =, Xi or 
Kfi (for the words are the fame), is “ the 
fovercign temple.” ¥, Pfi, is a mere ab-: 
breviation of Ips-ai into ’Ps-ai or ’Ps-i; the 
reader will readily perceive, therefore, that 
it imports ‘¢ the refidence or templeof the 
Ip, Hip, or Arkite God.’ 2, Omega, 
or Omeka (Aum-yk-ai), explains itfelf, 
and is literally ‘* the fovereign temple of - 
the God Ham.”’ This letter occupies the 
the laft place in the alphabet, and is fup- 
pofed to have been the laft added to it; its / 
power, in enunciation, is double the 
length of the former 0, or omicron; in 
confequence of which the Greeks made 
choice of the omicron to exprefs what- 
ever was {mall or diminutive, and the 
omega to exprefs the contrary : hence the 
adjectives pempog (micros, contraéted from 
OfArXpoty omicros) » little, and reyes (megas; 
contracted from oyeyas, omegas) large or 
great. 
It may perhaps be conceived by many 
of my readers, that the radicals here pre- 
tended to be given of the charaéters of 
the Greek alphabet, and their refpective 
names, are fo fimple that they may be 
applied with equal eale to any other al- 
phabet ; but Jet chofe who may thus objec& 
to the key I have now ventured to offer, 
make a fingle attempt, and they will find 
themfelyes completely difappointed. Ina 
few inftances, perhaps, they may fucceed ~ 
with fome difficulty ; but, excepting in 
the example I have given of the Greek, 
and that of the Afiatic and Euro- 
pean 
