1802, ] 
ings: Thofe, however, of Girgenti, al- 
though very umperfect, will be of fome 
affiftance to you, when you are onthe 
fpot, as will thofe alfo which you will find 
in Dorville’s work *. 
Baron de Riedezel + mentions an. in- 
fcription to be feen in the Market-place, 
and “ qwhich,” he lays, ‘* 75 12.a barbarous 
fauguages’’ It is.im the Arabic or the 
Pheen.cian. If the account is true, of its 
‘having been taken from the Temple of 
Olympian Jupiter, the language is pro- 
bably the Phoenician; and in that cafe I 
intreat you will make a correct copy of it; 
and if a caft from it ean be procured and 
fent to me by fome fafe conveyance, I 
fhail be highly gratified. Not only will 
the Bithop of Girgenti inform you re- 
{petting the language of this in{cription, 
but the rules which I have already had 
occafion to. mention will enable you to 
determine this point yourfelf, If the let- 
ters are joined, it is Arabic ; if they are 
feparated, and nearly refemblixg thofe on 
the medals, it is Phoenician. 
This Bifhop of Girgenti,”’ we are 
informed by Baron de Riedezel{ ‘* has 
4 collection of medals of the Roman Em- 
perors.”’ I am not anxious about thefe, 
but he proceeds—‘* Among the Greek 
medals are thofe of the ancient towns of 
Sicily, in filver, with a confiderable num- 
ber. of Carthaginian medals in gold.” 
Thefe I fhould moft particularly with to 
obtain. If the Bifhop is willing to dif- 
pole of them, they would undouodtedly be 
a valuable acquifition to the King’s ca- 
binet. Firft, the flver medals are worth 
four or five times their weight; thofe of 
gold; the fame, provided they have Phoe- 
nician letters, and that they contain more 
than one of fuch letters; for if they repre- — 
fent merely a Horfe or a Palm-tree, they 
are worth little more than their weight. 
If the Bifhop is unwilling to part, with 
thefe medals, 1 fhould with to obtain an 
~ exaé defcription of them, and moft parti- 
cularly of the Carthaginian medals of gold. 
In cale he does not choofe to difpofe of - 
thefe medals feparate from the reft of the 
collection, I fhould wifh to have an ac- 
count of the whole, and to be informed 
what value he fets upon it. 
- Malta—If¥you fhould go to Malta from 
Girgenti, I requeft you will collect all 
the bronze medals which are frequently 
found there, and which contain thefe three 
a 
-* Sicula, page 97) 99, 107. 
+ Voyage en Sicile, &. page 33. 
t Voyage en Sicile, é&c. page 56. 
MontuLy Mac, No,81, 
Inftruétions of the Abbé Barthelemy to Md, Houel. - 809 
Jetters b5@. If they are in good preferva- 
tion they are worth eight or ten-pences. 
Enquire whether they are found at Malta 
or at Goza, . 
You will find here the fare Phoenician: 
infcription on two Marble Altars, a catt 
of which I have got, and have decyphered. 
Le Chanoine Agio will inform, you whe- 
ther any Phoenician infcriptions have been, 
lately difcovered, and he will give you 
copies of al! thofe which he has collected. 
You may allo addrefs yourlelf to one 
of our foreign members; named M. de 
Ciantar, fhould he be ftill living, which 
I think doubtful, as it is now ten years 
fince he has been heard of. at the Aca- 
demy. 
Phintias and Gela—Beyend Agrigen= 
tum, and proceeding to the eaftward,; are 
Alicata, Terranova, &c. where Phintias, 
Gela, &c. formerly ftood. Dorville has 
been as far as to the {pot where Gela is 
fuppofed to have been fituated, but has 
not difcovered any remains. From thence 
he purfued his route by land. Baron de 
Riedezel went from Malta to Syracufe. 
I am ignorant whether any difcoveries are 
to be expected in coafting from Girgenti 
to Syracufe. 
Syracufe—1 will not trouble you with 
any oblervations refpeéting this town : 
your draugh{man will be able to judge for 
himfelf what antiquities will merit your 
attention, and of fame of which you will 
find incorreét engravings in Dorville’s 
work,. You may give three or four times 
their weight for the medals which bear. 
the name of SYPAKOSION (Syracofisrum), 
particularly thofe of gold and of filver. 
This inftruétion equally applies to thal 
of the town of Leontium, near Catana*. 
Catana—Prince Bifcari has a fine fuc- 
ceffion of. Sicilian medals. You can- 
not with any propriety afk him to part 
with them, but he may have fome dupli- 
cates which he would perhaps be glad to 
exchange for thofe medals of which he is 
not pofleffed. 
Taurominiuri—The antiquities of this 
town, as well as-thofe of Catana, are to 
be found in Dorvillée’s work, but always 
with the fame defeét, very inaccurate and 
unfatisfaCtory in the dimenfions. 
There do not appear to be mahy an- 
* Barthelemy, in that part. of his Paleo= 
graphy which he has left in manufcript, has 
entered into equally curious and corre&t de- 
tails relative to the Numifmatical Hiftory of 
Syracufe, and all the ancient towns of Magna 
Gracia and Sicily, 
aE ne tiquitics 
