THE XANTHIAN INSCRIPTIONS. 49 



a portion of the kingdom was given in charge by 

 a preceding sovereign. 



In page 435, " The line in Lycian which fol- 

 lows immediately after the Greek is to this effect, 

 ' Transcript of the greatest decree of the King of 

 Kings;' showing that the decrees on the upper 

 part of the monument emanate from the king 

 of Persia. The words ' king of kings ' occur fre- 

 quently on the north-east and north-west sides of 

 the monument, and on the same sides we find 

 frequently repeated the name of Aoura or Aoure- 

 mez, the chief divinity of the Persian fire-wor- 

 shippers." 



Tn page 436, Mr. Sharpe gives a brief sum- 

 mary of the conclusions, drawn by him from an 

 investigation of the inscriptions. This we tran- 

 scribe, as presenting one of the best arguments 

 in favour of the opinions we have advanced 

 respecting the origin of the language. " The few 

 words which I make out here and there, in these 

 two sides of the monument, lead me to suppose 

 that it contains a series of decrees relating to 

 the settlement of the country after the conquest 

 by the Persians, and to the manner in which the 

 people of the two nations and religions are to live 

 together. The Medes and Lycians are frequently 



VOL. II. e 



