DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11789#0049
LANGUAGE OF THE MALTESE.
39
They were, perhaps, a quarter of an inch in depth,
and about an inch apart. They seemed evidently
designed for ornament.
It appears that Malta has been successively
under the dominion of the Egyptians, the Phoeni-
cians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Saracens, the
Normans, the Knights of St. John, and the English.
It is not known exactly how long the Saracens had
possession of the island, probably near 300 years.
At all events, they have left behind them a mon-
ument which will probably endure to the latest
posterity of the present race of Maltese—I allude
to their language—the Maltese being nothing more
or less than a dialect of the Arabic. So true is
this, that a very large portion of the words corre-
spond almost exactly to those of the modern Arabic.
Hence, a person who is well acquainted with Mal-
tese can travel very comfortably through Egypt,
Palestine, and Syria, without an interpreter.
Some fine specimens of Egyptian and Greek
antiquities have been found in this island, and are
now to be seen in the museum at Valetta; among
these may be mentioned a Grecian statue of Her-
cules, and a bas-relief of the head of Zenobia.
The temple of Hadjar Khem was probably built,
either by the Phoenicians, or by some people
39
They were, perhaps, a quarter of an inch in depth,
and about an inch apart. They seemed evidently
designed for ornament.
It appears that Malta has been successively
under the dominion of the Egyptians, the Phoeni-
cians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Saracens, the
Normans, the Knights of St. John, and the English.
It is not known exactly how long the Saracens had
possession of the island, probably near 300 years.
At all events, they have left behind them a mon-
ument which will probably endure to the latest
posterity of the present race of Maltese—I allude
to their language—the Maltese being nothing more
or less than a dialect of the Arabic. So true is
this, that a very large portion of the words corre-
spond almost exactly to those of the modern Arabic.
Hence, a person who is well acquainted with Mal-
tese can travel very comfortably through Egypt,
Palestine, and Syria, without an interpreter.
Some fine specimens of Egyptian and Greek
antiquities have been found in this island, and are
now to be seen in the museum at Valetta; among
these may be mentioned a Grecian statue of Her-
cules, and a bas-relief of the head of Zenobia.
The temple of Hadjar Khem was probably built,
either by the Phoenicians, or by some people