AXUM. 
189 
the Greek Kings, is extremely curious, and, as well as the conclud- 
ing dedication, will be hereafter referred to. 
" Considering that this monument has been erected one thousand 
five hundred years, the circumstance of its being found in so very 
perfect a state, is somewhat remarkable ; and it strongly proves the 
want of research and inattention amon^ the Fathers who visited this 
country in the fifteenth century, or their extreme inaccuracy res- 
pecting matters of this nature, as the following account of it, given 
by Father Tellez, will sufficiently prove.* " Non procul abhinc 
erectum est saxum tribus cubitis latum, insculptum Uteris partim 
Graecis partim Latinis, sed temporis injuria fere exesis. Hoc indi- 
cium est, omnes istas structuras esse artificum Europseorum a tem- 
poribus Justini, et aliorum Imperatorum Orientalium, qui (teste 
Procopio) magnam cum Regibus ^thiopise amicitiam coluerunt. 
Q^uamvis tunc temporis mixtura fuerit linguarum Grsecse et Latinae, 
quia milites unius et alterius idiomatis in iisdem castris militabant," 
" Verum imaginari mihi non possum mixtam scripturam in illis 
saxis reperiri, multo minus rationem istius rei valere puto. Ocula- 
tiores inspectores (aut nimium fallor) aliquando reperient scriptu- 
ram mere Grsecam, atque in ea hteras A. B. E. Z- I. K. M. N. O. P. 
C. X. quas Latini cum Graecis communes habent, quamvis non 
in omnibus aequalis sint pronunciationis so that by this it appears, 
that they must either have been totally ignorant of its contents, or 
they must have purposely perverted the sense, in consequence of 
its interfering so decidedly with their account of the history of 
the country, since, by this monument, all claim of the Abyssinian 
monarchs to a descent from Solomon, and the conversion of the 
* Ludolf, p. 251. 
