On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c8.44

c8.44

No 12. The Kharoṣṭhī *ma* (Col. III, a—c) is, as has been generally recognised, not much more than the head of the Aramaic *Mem* in Col. I. The first two forms, which are common in Aśoka's Edicts and the second of which occurs also on the Indo-Grecian coins, still show remnants of the side-stroke and of the central vertical or slanting stroke. But they have been placed on the left instead of on the right. The mutilation of the letter is no doubt due, as has been suggested by others, to the introduction of the vowel signs, which would have given awkward forms, and the fact of the mutilation is indicated by its size, as it is always much smaller than the other Kharoṣṭhī signs. The curved head appears in the Saqqārah *Mem*, which I have chosen for comparison, as well as on Babylonian Seals and Gems (Euting, Col. 8, e) and in the Carpentras inscription (Euting, Col. 13, c), and the later forms from Palmyra prove that it must have been common. The *Mem* of the Papyri are again much more cursive and unsuited for comparison.