Note 10 — HASSAN OR THE CHILD OF THE PYRAMID

The Arabic letter ain. The Turks and Persians, in whose respective languages this letter frequently occurs, never attempt to pronounce it otherwise than as a broad Italian a. As the same letter is found in the Hebrew alphabet, it may be an interesting speculation for the learned to consider how it was pronounced by the ancient Jews; the modern Jews in Germany and Asia pronounce it like the broad a. Its pronunciation seems to have puzzled the learned Seventy in the time of the Ptolemies; at least in the Septuagint version we find it represented by various Greek letters; for instance, in the words “Amalek” and “Eli” the commencing letter in Hebrew is ain, as is likewise the last letter in the name of the prophet Hosêa.