The sources of information from which the present collection of Nabataean inscriptions has been compiled are as follows:—

Site 1. About two miles north of Bīr Abu Darag, beside which is the site of a Roman enclosure:—

Wilkinson MSS. (by courtesy of the Griffith Institute, Oxford, on behalf of the owner, Mrs. Godfrey Mosley, Calke Abbey, Derby); Envel. L, a few pages of roughly pencilled field notes relating to his second 1826 journey, the written-up Journal of which is missing: Nos. 22a, 22b, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34. Pp. 11–14; Pls. I–IV.

In my edition of the Mawāqif and Mukhāṭabāt of Muḥammad ibn 'Abd al-Jabbār al-Niffarī (Gibb Memorial Series, 1935) I called attention in several places to statements made by the commentator 'Afīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī, and the copyist of the fine Gotha manuscript, that the writings of al-Niffarī as we then possessed them were compiled from the author's scattered notes by his son or grandson, the notes themselves, which were dated, being no longer extant. Among the dates mentioned for these original autograph portions were the years 352, 353, 358, 359, 360, and 361 of the Hijra. I was prepared to accept these statements at their face value, and to use them as confirming the authenticity of the works ascribed to al-Niffarī, and his approximate date as given by the biographers. But it certainly never entered my thoughts that I would one day be handling a part of his writings in his own hand.

In 1947 a draft Code of Personal Law was approved by the Committee for Judicial Affairs of the 'Irāqī Chamber of Deputies. In spite, however, of the recommendation of this Committee that it should be enacted by Parliament and promulgated as law, the Code was then shelved—chiefly, no doubt, because of a change of Government and the election of a new Parliament, but partly also on account of the opposition of the more conservative elements in the country, both Sunnī and Ja'farī. With regard to the latter, I was given a copy of a letter addressed in 1948 by the President of the Ja'farī Division of the Court of Cassation to the then Minister of Justice calling attention to certain major objections to the draft Code and adding, ominously, that ‘the Ja'farī Court of Cassation cannot in future apply these provisions, so long as they do not conform to the correct precepts of the arī'a’; while the points most likely to have aroused the opposition of Ḥanafī purists are not hard to guess. There can be no doubt, however, that the real reasons for opposition to the Code are more fundamental than any of these detailed criticisms. The basic objection of the Sunnī conservatives almost certainly lies in their apprehension that once so many of the provisions of the arī'a have been codified the unification of the courts in 'Iraq will be yet further advanced, since any competent civil judge will be able to administer this Code, and even to dispense, in most cases, with expert opinion: so both the prestige and income of the ‘ulamā’, who alone have been trained to refer to the ancient texts, will inevitably decrease. And the still more vehement opposition of the Ja'farīs can be traced to the fact that they regard the Code as a direct infringement upon the prerogatives of those mujtahids whom their school still recognizes, and to whose decision the courts—and, still more, the public —regularly refer not only points of dispute in general but several of the matters covered by this Code in particular. But the Code has recently again been debated in Parliament, and once more referred to a Judicial Committee for further study and reflection: so this may be an appropriate opportunity to examine its scope and contents.

The earliest dated signature of a Mawṣilī artist is incised on a small inlaid brass box belonging to the Benaki Museum, Athens (Case 65, No. 17). This is an oblong miniature piece which measures only 6·3 cm. in length and 3·6 cm. in width. It is 2·3 cm. high and provided with an overlapping, bevelled lid (1·1 cm. high) which is fixed by means of two tiny hinges at the back and with a hasp in front. Its shape strongly resembles that of a snuff box and has no known parallel in Islamic metal work. Despite its exiguous dimensions it is decorated with intricate arabesques and inscriptions. The skilfully worked decor was for the most part filled with fine silver inlay, much of which has survived.

Among the most difficult unsolved problems of Indian history and archaeology are the chronology of the dynasties generally called Śaka and Kuṣāṇa and the dating of the art of Gandhāra. Writing of the former in 1919, Dr. Vincent Smith declared: ‘definite progress towards a conclusive solution of the problem based upon solid facts has been made.… and … the uncertainty as to the chronology has been reduced to a period of forty years in round numbers. Or to state it otherwise, the question is, “Did Kanishka come to the throne in A.D. 78, or about forty years later?”’ But Dr. Smith's optimistic faith in progress has not been realized, and the last thirty years have rather added to our uncertainty than lessened it. Confusion was made worse confused by the many theories, continually revised, of the late Professor Konow, who grappled with the problem until the time of his death, but produced no chronology to obtain general assent. A few years ago Dr. Ghirshman devised a new chronological scheme, which had the advantage of simplicity and was widely accepted, especially on the other side of the Channel; but this has not by any means passed unquestioned, and authorities are now perhaps further from unanimity than ever.

1. That the fifteen or so Dravidian languages are to be considered a family is perhaps as obvious on first inspection as that the Romance languages are one. Phonetic correspondences, however, have with few exceptions not been worked out with any great clarity and exactness during the years since 1856, when Caldwell first published his comparative grammar of the Dravidian languages. The prime reason for this is, of course, the rarity of scholars who have worked or are working in this field; there can be named fewer than a score who have made first-rate contributions. Even so, the failure of scholars to state phonetic correspondences in definitive forms is surprising, since prima facie the material is easy to deal with and etymologically related groups of words leap to the eye. I need only instance the verb meaning ‘come’ which occurs in all the languages and which I have treated in Lg. 21. 184–213; or the noun meaning ‘worm,’ the forms of which are: Ta. puu ‘worm, maggot,’ Ma. puu ‘worm, caterpillar, maggot, grub, moth, mite,’ Kot. pu ‘worm,’ Tod. puf ‘worm, intestinal worm,’ Ka. puu, pua ‘worm, insect in general, snake,’ Koḍ. puḷu ‘worm,’ Tu. puri ‘worm, mite, moth, skin parasite,’ pura, puru ‘snail,’ Te. purugu, puruvu, pruvvu ‘worm, any insect or reptile,’ Kol. purre ‘worm,’ Go. pŭṛī ‘insect, worm,’ Kui pṛiu, pṛīu, piṛu ‘wingless insect, worm, maggot,’ Kur. pocgō ‘worm, caterpillar, fleshy larva, esp. of beetle,’ Malt, pocru ‘worm,’ Br. pū ‘worm, maggot, caterpillar,’ pul-mak(k)ī ‘tape-worm’ (makī ‘intestinal worm’ < Persian).

A. The Story of Su Wuu and Lii Ling

As is well known, the authorship of the Lii Ling/Su Wuu letters is disputed. Before embarking on the re-examination of this question which is the main purpose of the present paper, I wish to recall the story of Su Wuu and Lii Ling as it can be gathered from the relevant material embedded in Ban Guh's Hann Shu, in order to provide appropriate data for comparison with what is stated or implied in the letters. I limit myself to the Hann Shu in preference to either the Shyyjih or the Chyan Hann Jih because the relevant material in the two latter histories is practically identical with the data given in the Hann Shu, whereas a great deal more of such material given in the Hann Shu has not been included in the other two histories. As regards other sources, it is obvious that for the present purpose I must ignore the body of legends which has grown up around the historical figures of Su Wuu, the fearless and faithful envoy of Hann Wuu-dih to the court of the Shiongnu , and the much lamented, hapless general Lii Ling, ever since their exploits in the ‘Far North’ became known to the empire. Su Wuu, the paragon of loyalty and perseverance, whose survival in the inhospitable clime was even attributed to supernatural interference and whose service was later rewarded with great honour and material wealth, formed a contrast to Lii Ling, who was unfortunate enough to be given an almost impossible task for ‘political’ reasons, and subsequently became a victim of professional jealousy and low treachery.

It is now established practice in descriptive linguistics to treat the subject-matter at separate, and definably separate, levels of analysis. Indeed the traditional categories of Phonology and Grammar represent such an employment of two different levels. Present-day linguists in Great Britain and America recognize the setting up and denning of the various levels of analysis as a basic procedure in handling the utterances of the speakers whose language is being studied.

The Swahili poet, Sayyid 'Umar bin Amin bin 'Umar bin Amin bin Nadhir al-Ahdal, Kadhi of Siu, c.a.d. 1856, left a number of poems upon religious themes. These include the best acrostic poems in traditional Swahili literature, e.g. Waji-waji, written in takhmis verse-form.

The title of the present work is given in the last verse: ya dura mandhuma, a Swahili form of the Arabic al-Durr al-Manẓum, or ‘Strung Pearls’. The manuscript copy, pasted on two pieces of cardboard, was written by Muhammad Abubakar bin 'Umar al-Bakariy, better known as Muhammad Kijuma, the well-known Swahili poet and scribe at Lamu, who produced most of his best work in the first two decades of the present century.

A. F. L. Beeston (in Muséon, lxiii, pp. 53 et seqq.) has convincingly shown that the contexts in which South Arabian mgl occurs require a translation as ‘watch-tower’ and not as ‘cistern, reservoir’ as had hitherto been the usual rendering. He is content to retain the present etymological connexion with Arabic mağal ‘swamp, pool’ and adduces in support of this view Hebrew agam ‘with precisely the same range of meaning’ as both ‘stagnum’ and ‘propugnaculum’.

The object of the present note is to draw attention to another source— qualiscunque est—on the Ṣaqālibah, Bulgars, etc., which has not hitherto been investigated. A full discussion of the literary and historical relations of the text is not proposed, but it seems desirable to signalize its existence.

The scarceness of published material renders difficult a true estimate of the development of political ideas in Egypt in the nineteenth century. Nor is it any less difficult to trace the origins of the first political parties.

The Arabi Rebellion of 1881-1882 was preceded by a long period of unrest, which finally crystallized in a self-styled National Party. This faction, led by army officers and civilians, kept its secret character for a few years, coming into the open only at the beginning of the Arabi Rebellion. Its importance in the anti-foreign struggle, however, has drawn attention to its humble but interesting origins. Research has provided us with fairly adequate, if still incomplete, material on this point. But hardly anything has been published, on the other hand, about another secret organization of that time, called ‘Young Egypt’.

So said the learned Chief Justice in the year 1912, when he held, after ‘consulting the authorities’, that ‘inheritance is not from father to son’ in Accra custom!

For many years learned judges in the Gold Coast courts have expressed a similar opinion, each taking comfort as to the correctness of his decision from the words of his predecessors. This colossal pyramid of error rests on several facts:—

1. The earliest customary law with which British judges in the Gold Coast became familiar was that of the Fantes, especially around Cape Coast.

2. In Fante custom inheritance is matrilineal.

3. Practically the sole written authority as to customary law consulted by the judges has been Sarbah's work, which, despite its title of Fanti Customary Laws, has frequently been invoked to decide cases concerning Gã and Ewe custom.

4. The evidence submitted in each particular case tending to disprove the proposition that Gã succession is matrilineal has been rejected as a result of the prejudice (derived from facts 1, 2, and 3) that ‘the ordinary rule of native customary law [sic] as to descent of property through the female line prima facie applies’ —Aryeh v. Dawuda: (1944) 10 W.A.C.A. 188; and sole reliance has been placed on the ‘expert’ witnesses who have solemnly sworn that Gã inheritance is matrilineal.