OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 25 



man, perhaps a Christian family, who had learnt the Greek language in 

 Egypt, but not well enough to avoid Latin idioms, if the last-mentioned 

 construction is the true one. 



" The third contains also an inscription written with ink as follows, 

 without accents, like the others. The name Pericles is also written 

 with abbreviated characters. 



TlepiK\r]s AnoWcovLov e^icocrev 

 err) irevTriKovra okt(» 

 Pericles, son of Apollotiiics, lived ffty-eight years. 



Both of the names here are pure Greek, belonging apparently to a 

 family who, though living in Egypt, maintained their Hellenic tra- 

 ditions and Hellenic names unchanged. In the last two of these in- 

 scriptions, we observe the ancient euphemistic manner of speaking of 

 death : they do not say that Plinius and Pericles died at such an age, 

 but that they lived so many years. 



" 1 also had time to examine another tablet, different from any of 

 the preceding. It was made of some hard wood, probably cedar, care- 

 fully smoothed, about a quarter of an inch in thickness, twelve inches 

 in length, and six in breadth. Across one end three or four lines had 

 been written with a reed pen and Egyptian ink. This writing was to 

 a considerable extent obliterated, — only single letters and isolated 

 syllables remaining legible, but not enough to make out the text. 

 Beneath this was dx-awn a waving line, to separate it from the writing 

 below, which, on a careful comparison, was evidently a number of 

 copies of the writing at the top, though in an inferior hand. The form 

 of the letters is characteristic of the chirography which prevailed from 

 about the second century before Christ until the fourth or fifth century 

 after ; and it may be placed, with a good degree of probability, at least 

 as early as the first century before Christ. The writing at the top of 

 the tablet is, again, evidently that of the schoolmaster, and that which 

 occupies the remainder of the surface, consisting of three entire copies 

 and part of a fourth, is evidently the writing of a scholar. The copies 

 of the scholar are not so much obliterated as the writing of the master, 

 and, on comparing them all, I was able clearly to make out every word 

 of the text. It forms two iambic trimeters, which, supplying the 

 accents, and correcting one word which is misspelt, read as follows : — 



yLaTTjv BpafieiTai kclv vnep Aa8av opafirj, 

 VOL. IV. 4 



