268 



BALBURA. 



beneath a high and steep hill, crowned by the 

 acropolis of the city. At the foot of the hill, 

 on a series of long and narrow levelled terraces, 

 differing a few feet in elevation, were the principal 

 public buildings. These appear to have been 

 grouped so as to present an imposing front to 

 the town. Many of them were temples, richly 

 but somewhat barbarously ornamented. There 

 are also remains of Christian churches, built at 

 a later period, when the town was falling into 

 decay. Among the fragments on these platforms 

 are many pedestals bearing inscriptions ; in these 

 the name of the city occurs.* 



The approach to this part of the city was 

 by an avenue bordered by tombs. These are 

 sarcophagi, having lids, on which large and 

 coarsely executed figures of lions in a crouching 

 attitude are sculptured. Such figures are seen 



* The name is always spelt Balbura. The inscription No. 

 9, in the appendix to Mr. Hoskyn's paper in the 12th volume 

 of the Geographical Journal, has the word BAB0YPEY2. It 

 should be BAAB0YPEY2, as Colonel Leake has conjectured 

 in his remarks on Mr. Hoskyn's journey. In the hurry of 

 copying I omitted the A, this particular inscription having been 

 published from my note-book. When I revisited Katara, with 

 Mr. Daniell and Lieut. Spratt, I recopied it, and found my 

 mistake. — E. Forbes. 



