Substantives are either masculine or feminine, as are also the first three numerals, which, have masculine and feminine forms.

The genders of nouns expressing human beings are according to sex; all other living creatures, irrespective of sex, are masculine. All things made of wood are masculine, and all metals or things made of metal are feminine, except jamé ‘a bow,’ which is feminine; and toomák ‘a gun,’ dîdoo ‘a bullet,’ chùr ‘a knife,’ and ‘coined money,’ which are masculine. Things made of cloth of any kind are feminine, with, some exceptions. All trees, plants, and grains are feminine, with one or two exceptions; and fruits are masculine, except gaing ‘a grape,’ which is feminine. All liquids are feminine.

Notwithstanding the labours of the various authorities who have from time to time written upon the ancient topography of the lower Indus Valley, the subject remains in much need of further investigation. Attempts to identify places mentioned by the historians of Alexander's Expedition, by the author of the Periplus of the Erythræan Sea, the geographer Ptolemy, the Chinese pilgrim Hiouen Thsang, the historians of the Arab conquest, and by later writers, have not usually been attended with the happiest results. Nor, when the difficulties which beset investigation are considered, is it at all surprising that this should be so. It is hard enough to have to contend with the vagueness, inconsistencies and contradictions of old writers; but these are as nothing compared with the obstacles which the physical characteristics of the country itself oppose to the inquirer. For ages the Indus has been pushing its bed across the valley from east to west, generally by the gradual process of erosion, which effectually wipes out every trace of town and village on its banks; but, at times also, by a more or less sudden shifting of its waters into entirely new channels, leaving large tracts of country to go to waste, and forcing the inhabitants of many a populous place to abandon their old homes, and follow the river in search of new settlements.

The city of Simnún is about one hundred and sixty-five miles eastward from Tehran on the road from the latter city to Mashad.

In the following pages I propose to go a little into a subject of great interest, whether we look at it from an antiquarian, or from a scientific point of view—namely, the question of the ancient non-Semitic languages of Mesopotamia and the people by whom they were spoken. To this subject I have given a great deal of attention, and have, by examination of the documents left to us by the Assyrians and Babylonians, their successors, found out many interesting and important facts, which will, I hope, not only prove to be of interest, but also of value to those who make comparative philology their study.