hy fire Officers of the French Army, 1 43* 



Kgypt ; that he had afterwards endeavoured to repair the 

 evils occafioned by war, and to make the people comfortable 

 by reniittini)-, either entirely or in part, the taxes that were, 

 due, or by diminidiing the burthen, of thofe which had been 

 cftdbliflied in the courie of his reigiii The infcription adds 

 that he had caufed the prifons to be opened to thofe detained 

 in them, andhad difchargcd a great number of accufed per-« 

 fons who for a lonjr time had been waiting for their fentence; 

 that he had ordered that all the rents which conftituted the do- 

 mains of the temples, and all thofe which under the reign of 

 his father Ptolemy Philopater had been raifed annually, either 

 in money or in kind, from the vineyards and gardens, for the 

 behoof of the gods, (liould continue to be punctually paid as 

 before ; and that the priefts (liould not pay more for their 

 perfonal taxes than what they had been aecuftbmed to pay 

 from the beginnino; of his fiither's reio;n. 



too D 



This infcription here calls to j-emcmbrance a particular 

 fa6t, which is worthy of notice. It informs us that there 

 were manufactories of linen cloth denoted under the name 

 <>S.hyJj)iSj depending on the templet, and that a certain quan- 

 tity of this merchandife was colledled every year for the ufe 

 of the navy and for the particular fervice of the prince; that 

 Ptolemy Epiphancs on a certain occafion remitted a part of 

 this tax, and that on another he fufpended the levying of it. 

 This prince alfo eftabliihed, in favour of the people and their 

 religious worfliip, various ordinances^ into the particulars of 

 which we cannot ^nter without tranfgreffingthe limits,allowed 

 for this extra<Sti 



In the eighth year of the reign of Ptolemv Epiphancs there 

 was a great inundation of the Nile. This prince caufed dykes 

 to be conftrucled to confine the river to its bed, and to pre- 

 vent it from overflowing the plains, which ii was accuftomcd 

 to do almoin every year. The infcription fpeaks alfo of tlie ficfro 

 and captiire of Lycopolis (the city of the wolvei), which this 

 prince carried by alfault. The infcription is here fupported 

 by hiftory, from which we learn that Lycopolis aclually re* 

 volted agalnd Ptolemy Epiphancs, and that after entering it as a 

 conqueror he treated the inhabiiants with great fv.- verity. But 

 if he puniflied with the utmoft rigour the rebels who perfilled 



in 



