Trench National Injlilule* 95 



happen. The firft was C. Marcel, director of the national 

 printing-office in Eygpt, who poifefies extenfive knowledge 

 and an indefatigable zeal for acquiring more. By a fimple 

 typographic procefs he obtained copies with the characters 

 inverted, but which could be eafily read by means of a 

 mirror. The fecond was C. Conte, chief of the brigade of 

 aeroftats, who, by his knowledge of mechanics and the 

 arts, had always been one of the moft ufeful men in the 

 colony. 



He employed the procefles of engraving to obtain copies, 

 which at firft gave the characters inverted ; but thefe copies 

 being put under the prefs, gave others fimilar to the infcrip- 

 tions. 



The infcription is in three different characters ; one portion 

 prefents a feries of hieroglyphics, in feveral lines exceedingly 

 regular; another which has not yet been fufficiently ex- 

 amined, exhibits a great number of lines in characters which 

 ftill leave fome uncertainty, and which require a more pro- 

 found refearch. The laft portion is compofed of fifty three 

 lines, written in Greek. Laport-Dutheil one of the mem- 

 bers of the clafs of literature and the fine arts, immediately 

 began to tranfcribe this part; and communicated to the 

 clafs a part of its contents. He afterwards made known, 

 thefubftance of nearly the whole of it, having tranfcribed the 

 firft thirty-eight lines. According to his explanation, it ap- 

 pears that the infcription is a monument of gratitude from 

 the priefts of one or more temples, either of Alexandria or 

 iome place in the neighbourhood, to Ptolemy Epiphanes. 



A literary man of eminence has already publiihed fome 

 observations on the firft explanation given of the Greek text. 

 If the infcription be in honour of Ptolemy Dionyfius, fays he, 

 it follows that the date of it muft be 63 years before the 

 Chriftian a?ra ; on the other hand, if the inferiptions exprefs 

 the fame thing, it thence follows that the hieroglyphic 

 language was in ufe even lb late as 300 years before Chrift*, 



though 

 • The Apocalypfe furnifhes a direfl; proef that it was nnderftood, 

 even ftibfcquem to the Ch.iftian sera. If commentators had attended to 

 tbit fait, and followed the hieroglyphical acceptation of the figures em- 

 ployed 



