The Script of Harappa and Mohenjodaro and its Connection with Other Scripts c9.3

c9.3

With regard to Sabaean the time interval is less. And though the inscriptions may not antedate the sixth century, a much earlier date is claimed for the beginnings of the Minaean empire, and presumably for the origin of the script also. If distance is urged as militating against the probability of Sabaean being derived from Proto-Indian, it should be remembered that the distance from the mouth of the indus to the Sabaean coast is less than 1000 miles, that the monsoon winds are absolutely reliable and sailing conditions ideal, making it possible during six months of the year to sail from Karachi to Aden with the shore almost continuously in sight without tacking once, and during the other six months to perform the same feat in the opposite direction. Again, both areas were known to the ancients as Ethiopian. In view of the fact that both the form and the names of some of the Sabaean signs have not yet been satisfactorily accounted for, it has seemed to me legitimate and desirable to bring out in tabular form the undoubtedly striking resemblances between Sabaean and Proto-Indian.