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RE: orion Cryptic A + Magarians
I mean tawe-I mention this similarity because of similarities noted
by S. Pfann between cryptic A and an earlier Phoenician script: I am
curious about where cryptic A fits in the development of semitic
alphabets.
As for a reference to cryptic A: see S. Pfann's contribution to DJD
20 or his article in JQR 85 (1994) on 4Q298.
James Harding
From: "Suter, David" <dsuter@crc.stmartin.edu>
To: "'orion@mscc.huji.ac.il'" <orion@mscc.huji.ac.il>
Subject: RE: orion Cryptic A + Magarians
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 10:09:07 -0700
Reply-to: orion@mscc.huji.ac.il
You'll need to be more specific about Ethiopic characters. There are
two "t's" in Ethiopic, as one might expect of a Semitic language. The
Tawe is an unremarkable cross (like a modern lower case "t") with
various appendages to indicate vowels, and a similarity between it and a
Cryptic script would not be very remarkable. The other "t" is tait,
which might remind one of a roman upper case "M" formed by joining the
two outer legs at the top and dropping the middle leg straight down from
the top. The result is somewhat beetle-shaped (viewed from the side).
One of my Ethiopic grammars indicates that the origin of the script is
south Arabia, and that there is similarity to Minao-Sabaic inscriptions.
I don't have ready access to the Cryptic scripts to make a comparison,
unless someone can give me a ready reference.
David Suter
Saint Martin's College
dsuter@crc.stmartin.edu
> ----------
> From: J.E.Harding[SMTP:BSP97JEH@sheffield.ac.uk]
> Reply To: orion@mscc.huji.ac.il
> Sent: Monday, July 13, 1998 5:11 AM
> To: orion@panda.mscc.huji.ac.il
> Subject: orion Cryptic A + Magarians
>
> I'm writing with two unrelated ideas in my mind:
> (1)With regard to Cryptic script A (e.g. 4Q298, 4Q317), has anyone
> noted the similarities between cryptic/esoteric taw and the Ethiopic
> letter t?
> (2)With regard to the question of the identification of the Qumran
> sect and related topics, does anyone know of a discussion of Jaqub
> al-Qirqisani's 'History of Jewish Sects' which raises this issue?
> Qirqisani mentions a Second Temple sect known as 'Magarians,' on
> account of the fact that their texts were found in a cave this is a
> paraphrase, not a quotation).
>
> James Harding
> University of Sheffield
>