14 ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Carnelian scarabteus with Gryphon, and the name Jehasaq in PhcEnician. From Nablous. 



Yellow jasper gnostic amulet with Eros or Cupid, and the Greek inscription Aktioph 

 and Damnaneus. From Syria. 



A small collection of tesserte of terra-cotta with Palmyrene inscriptions, and other objects. 

 From Palmyra. The above presented by A. "W. Franks, Esq. 



During the past year the following progress has been made in preparing the fourth 

 volume of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia. 



The work of copying and lithographing has been continued. Sixteen additional sheets 

 have been copied on stone, completing sixty-three sheets, fifteen of which are only 

 awaiting final corrections to be printed off. 



iS. Birch. 



Department of Geeek and Eoman Antiquities. 



I. — Arrangement. 



Sixty-three sculptures, inscriptions and pieces of architecture, seventeen mosaics and 

 four bronze figures have been mounted and repaired ; the re-arrangement and glazing of 

 the frieze of the Parthenon and the re-arrangement of the sculptures and mosaics in the 

 Grseco-Koman Basement have been completed, the statue of a Diadumenos has been 

 restored, two new cases for sculptures have been placed in the Elgin Room, and two 

 similar cases in the ante-room to the Mausoleum Room, two new shades for vases have 

 been placed in the First Vase Room ; thirteen fictile vases, twenty-two terra-cottas, three 

 objects in bronze and one hundred fragments of objects in iron have been cleaned and 

 repaired ; sheets B — P of the Corpus of Greek Inscriptions have been worked off"; a new 

 edition of the Guide to the Exhibition Rooms has been issued ; four hundred and ten 

 descriptive titles have been attached to objects, five hundred and sixty-nine gems have 

 been catalogued, and one thousand and sixty-eight objects registered. 



11. — Acquisitions. 



I. — A quadrangular stele of white marble, on the four sides of which is inscribed a 

 decree of the city of Rhodes recording the raising of a voluntary loan for the defence of 

 the city in some great emergency. The names of the contributors to the loan, and the 

 sums subscribed by each of them, are recorded on the marble. Three transcripts of this 

 decree are ordered to be inscribed on stelae and set up in three public places in the city. 

 From the character of the palteography this decree may be referred to the third 

 century B.C., and from internal evidence it is not unlikely that the emergency for which 

 the loan was raised was the celebrated siege by Demetrius Poliorcetes, B.C. 305-4. This 

 inscription was formerly embedded in the pavement of the Church of St. John, in Rhodes. 

 After the Turkish conquest this church became a mosque, the vaults under it being used 

 as a powder magazine. In 1856 the powder exploded and the church was destroyed. 

 The stele was broken into a number of fragments, but the main part of the text was 

 fortunately uninjured. 



Presented by His Royal Highness, tlie Prince of Wales. 



II. — A silver mask of Scylla or Medusa, embossed ; snakes' bodies are twined round the 

 neck. From Rome. 



Presented by George Buchan Simpson, Esq. 



III. — A square leaden frame for some circular object ornamented at the corners with 

 heads in relief. From Smyrna. 



Presented by the Rev. Greville Chester. 



IV. {I.') — A Roman stone weight (9,700 grains troy), inscribed EX • AVC* Q- IVNI* 

 RVSTIC'l • PRAEF • VR .. I. In the Museum of Berlin is a weight inscribed with 

 the same name (Wilmanns, Exempla Inscriptionum Latinarum, No. 2,764). 



2. Three Greek fictile vases with geometrical patterns. The style seems a late imitation 

 of archaic fictile ware. 



Presented by Augustus W. Franks, Esq. 



V. (1.) — An archaic fictile vase of the style known as Corinthian, ornamented with 

 zones of animals on a floral ground, painted in black and purple on a drab ground. Three 

 female heads in relief are set round the mouth. 



2. An oinochoe in the same style. 



3. A two-handled cup of varnished black ware. In the centre of the inside is a mask 

 of Medusa, in relief. 



4. A small archaic vase of fictile ware with two handles, on which is a stag rudely painted. 



5. 6. Two small vases of fictile ware with geometrical patterns, probably imitations of 

 archaic fictile ware. 



Presented by John Henderson, Esq. 



VI. A marble 



