Greek Inscriptions from Egypt

Author(s): J. G. Milne
Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies , 1901, Vol. 21 (1901), pp. 275-292
Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/623876

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT.

THE inscriptions here published are for the most part in the G
Museum, where I copied them last year when assisting in the prepa
the catalogue of the Graeco-Roman rooms. They do not appear to
edited previously, and offer some points of interest. The numbers
those of the new catalogue.

I.-GHIZEH MUSEUM, No. 9288.

A AMONH C TOYKYIo
H ML NAYTO I( PATO/////d,
(A ICAf6CMAPKoYAV)eAIoY

CE 8 AC ATOY CEYC E V7,,R/r/J/-OY

C Y NTIANT8 CAYTRI///d, lI<oY
N E M E C IAN 0 CIAPEI 8 YToYTI '//~//1//////#1/,

C(CIKOC M IOC 0 KAIAA8 AIYC,////

FYMNACIAPXOC TH C OlT( NTITLEUC
ANEOHKATON ANAPIANTATOYRfOA~C
CAPArTIOCETI IhO YC E I CTOYTOM~ATO
ETCooYCAhIAM NON NKA IfT(OIP//
ANAAMWONAArIANHMA M( 4AOTIMIAC
ETV'/Wif**4 &JNft ITfIYA OUoP

.Fll C TATH FOYNTOC AYPHI OYl AI ONOC

CTPATHFOYNTOCAPTENAlWYrY
ETOYC KIA fcElrI

['T7rTp] qn?7pt'qa [Kafl I&auovtpO rTOi cvpiov P1V V AV'TOKpaT[OpO] O

Kalaapov MadpKov A i[pq]h.ov I [KotI6o'ov] 'ArC0[vi]YQp I ePaTo7 El'e-

#P.[V Kai] To' j ov Travros a>7,[b] 9oKo,, I Netuco-eavb 'Apelov 70r
l[ ..........] . I, wLKOOCaLo90 d Kai 'AXOaLEl [.'vapXoq] I yvutvaliapxo0v Tri
OCtTL)rV r e j aYEd6)KGa 7T\y vipudvra 70" 1-OXi (oi Iapatr LWo, '7' tOlJ
Etl TrooUTo .eT b T j EI Aov 0 &/e70vov catl 7r o.4[bv] IvaXwlOv 8arravyipa
, tXo'rttuita, I dor [ ........... ] tpvov dTpXov AlryVrrov, I rrarpary-
'oi7vrog AvpqXiov 'Idaovoq, I -,rpanlyoivro 'Apret&8<pov j'TOV Kaea

The inscription is on a columnar statue-base of limestone -88 metres high

and -53 in diameter, one side having been cut flat to receive it; the remainder
T2

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 276 J. G. MILNE

of the surface is decorated wi

seven lines, -026-'031 high: in
The stone was seen by Dr
where he copied it, and appear
or four years ago. It is quoted
vol. xxii. p. 381.
The name of Commodus has b
of the letters being cut away.
of the prefect in 1. 15, but t
there, by merely digging a
remain are, however, insufficien
The nearest in date of the kn
in a Berlin papyrus of the yea
The most interesting point
epithet Polieus to the name
instance of any distinctive
epithets used in poetry, and f
of the worship of Sarapis i
the development of the rel
were associated to form th
Harpokrates. They were orig
Rhakotis, which stood on part
foundation, and were, so to s
fusion of Greek and Egyptian
at Alexandria than elsewher
worship: and, as the influence
carried with it the supremacy
various capitals of the earlier
spite of Greek influences, Is
were always of Egyptian ty
Alexandria was of Egyptian
Demeter3 : but this identifica
conceptions of her: she was
constantly localised by a di
was worshipped as Isis Phar
Fayum, she was variously kn
Sononais,9 and Isis Nanaia10
at Akoris, Isis Mochias 12: at

1 B.G.U. 12. 7 B.G.U. 1.

8 Pap. B.M. 353.
2 British AMluseum Cat. Coins, 'Alexandria,'
540, 879. S I Hermathena xxi. 243.
3 Hdt. ii. 59. 10 Pap. B.M. 345.
4 C.I.G. iii. 4944b. 11 J. H.S. xii. 384.
5 'A6Ovatov iii. 87.
6 B.M. Cat. Coins, 1121. ' C.i..G.
13 iii.x.4703c.
Bee. Trav. 140.

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT. 277

roi xG wLarov Oed 1: a graffito from a quarry opposit

Isis Resakemis": at Hiera Sykaminos she was addres
and at Philae, the greatest centre of her worship, she
Isis Myrionymos.4
The Greek treatment of Harpokrates was essentially
of Isis: he never had distinctive epithets, but was repr
types. Thus on Alexandrian coins, the forms which ap
rather than to Horus, are the Alexandrian, as a ch
Herakleopolis Magna,-where he was identified, throug
shef, with Herakles,-carrying a club: as Harpokrates
man: as Harpokrates of Pelusium, a youth with a pome
of Canopus, a figure half man, half crocodile: and as
child on a lotus.5
Sarapis, on the other hand, as has been already rem
in this inscription, appears with a distinctive epithet
which he is represented is always the same-that of th
to be the work of Bryaxis, and to have been originally
Hades, which was brought from Sinope by Ptolemy
Alexandria.6 The special feature in the development o
way in which, instead of being locally specialised, it ab
The name of Sarapis was derived from the Osirian
Osirian connection with the lower world justified the
statue. But at Alexandria the attributes of Apis dropp
ideas, though preserved in priestly traditions, as is sho
a statue of a bull to Sarapis in the reign of Hadri
probably in virtue of the Apis connection that S
in the great temple of Memphis, which became un
second centre of his worship. At Abydos, the cent
Sarapis became identified with, and so supplanted in
The votive inscriptions written on the walls of the tem
are commonly addressed to Sarapis 8: and on the stelae
period from the cemetery of Abydos, while the scen
Egyptian form seated in state to receive the dead man
are to Sarapis.9 And, in a trilingual inscription, proba
name of Osiris in the Egyptian text is translated by
while the Egyptian name of the dedicator's father, Pse
Sarapion.10
Besides supplanting Osiris, and thus as a Chthonic g
Greek Hades in Egypt, Sarapis was equated with Zeus,

1 R.A. ii. 3rd ser. 177. 6 Tacitus, Hist. iv. 83.

2 R.E.C. iv. 56. 7 G. Botti, Racpport sitr le Musde Grico-
S C.I.CG. iii. 5115. Romain d'Alexandrie, 1899, p. 54.
4 C.I. G. iii. 4915c, 4922d. 8 A. H. Sayce, P.S.B. A. x. 377.
5 See R. S. Poole, B. M. Cat. Coins, ' Alex- 9 See nos. ii. and iii.
andria,' p. lxiv. 10 C.L G. iii. 4969.

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 278 J. G. MILNE

the position which each held a

result was a worship under t
identification was made of Sara
of the priestly traditions of
of this kind is to be found in a
declares
El; Zel;, %parrpc, ,calt'HXLo9 'Ep?vov/t9.3

In view therefore of the general character of the development of Sarapis-

worship, it is interesting to find this example of a distinctive epithet applied
to him, especially as the epithet is such a peculiarly Greek one. It markedly
refers to Sarapis as the god of Alexandria, which was always 7 7rroXte to the
Greeks of Egypt, and of which the dedicator of the statue was a citizen. No
other Egyptian or Graeco-Egyptian god was, or could have been, given this
title: which serves to show how large an influence Greek ideas had exercised
in this particular cult.
The deme-name of the dedicator is, as frequently is the case in the Roman
period at Alexandria, a double one. The Alexandrian demes appear to have
been curiously complicated: besides the combination in this inscription, which
is not infrequently found,4 there occur qDvXatOaXo-o-eto 60 cat 'AX" ate,5,"
PvXa?tlaXdaro etoo ical 'HpaKXeto9,O A1vet/r7dPeo 6 ,ca At vetoq,7 and
AtXavai3rZoq 0 cKal\ 'AXAate'."S As these demes also occur singly, it
seems probable that an Alexandrian citizen could belong to two demes
at once.

The statement by the dedicator that he had provided the ba

the cost of the statue beyond the usual contribution is one to whi
not been able to find a parallel in Egypt. It appears from the rece
ostraka, that the expenses of erection of statues to the Roman empe
commonly met by a levy on the inhabitants of the district 9; but th
evidence that any similar practice obtained in regard to the statues
nor would it appear to suit the phraseology of this inscription. Po
man who had only contributed a certain part of the cost of a s
allowed by custom to have his name inscribed as dedicator: and in
Nemesianus would wish it to be recorded that his gift was not
merely to the amount which entitled him to such honour.

C.I.G. iii. 1863c. 6 Ibid.

2 C.I.G. iii. 4962. 7 0.P. 261.

3 U. Bouriant, Mdm. Miss. Arch. Fran sC.Pap. B.M. 298 Wilcken correets the first
viii. 3, 366. word to TEiXavad&rLos (Archivfitr Papyrusfor-
e.g. B.G.U. 193: O.P. 95. schung. i. 159).
5 O.P. 273. ` Wilcken, Griech. Ostr. i. c. iv. ? 15.

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT. 279

II.-GaZHIzEH MUSEUM, No. 9210.

kle

TabYv,/ 'HpaKXjov avE 6,107ne fe)^ Pe7ro-rTC .epa7r(tL).

The inscription, in letters "012-'017 high, is on a sandstone stele '335 x

?25 from Abydos.
III.-GHIZEH MUSEUM, NO. 9208

twi

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 280 J. G. MILNE

[7ra]pa[.roi]a.irp.atov Taj'r,I Ovya(Trph)

Kcupiov epE6orLoq I ['A]vovlt(o)q
[70] E'v 'A/V'(Sw)* TaIev(ao0) t'. F/LTrph0 d.evroVvt(o)v C

On a similar stele to the last, "3 x -26, from Abydos: letters -009--012
high.
These two stelae are of a type commonly found at Abydos, and are given
here to illustrate the point mentioned above with regard to the identification
of Osiris of Abydos with Sarapis. The relief is a debased copy of the earlier
representations of the presentation of the mummy to Osiris and Isis by
Anubis, and the characteristic adjuncts of the Egyptian scene are preserved
-the winged disk and pendent uraei crowning the stele, with the mummy
lying on the sacred boat below, guarded by two jackals; and uas-sceptres
flanking the relief. But the god named in the inscription is Sarapis, whose
name has assumed its Roman form of Serapis.

IV.-GHIZEH MUSEUM, No. 9300.

>rNE E YAToYA

g A*TIoz
I: M I NI HY H
Y FNIT A l E
THE Y TTE fA"'V
CKAI T^- NTE K(N^'
E YXH N7-L-T H fIA

___________, ___

t.ranrrveovapy Tve/oaro~. fe C.LEyIT,7 1o1-V1 r lhq napev 1,8o/Troc

2v?,vt ITn rlv'lr.p aWUrOv I ca V "rOv cvwvI eVxlv O-O'rrWpia9.
This inscription is in fairly good letters -006--011 high, on a small

limestone
was found.altar "23about
Date: x -13200
x -13.
B.C.The Museum records do not show where it
The name of the goddess to whom the altar is dedicated is noteworthy,
as an Egyptian title appears to be given almost completely in transcription
by the Greek. Mr. F. Ll. Griffith has suggested as a probable rendering
assuming that the endings of the words were slightly modified ' Daughter of

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT. 281

the daughter of the Sole Lord, the Sole Mist

Such a transcription is very unusual: as a rule, when an Egyptian
name is given in Greek characters, it is altered so as to present a Greek
form; while the Egyptian gods are habitually addressed by the names of
their supposed Greek equivalents, as will be seen in the next inscription.

V.-GHRIZEH MUSEUM, No. 9246.

?2 - lo M I~~ / ///N O 1

bJAALL\ fi N 1 -71 (co)

'T7rrp paoL-tXCE IIrToXe]ptalov Ica Bao[tXklo-o-7r KXeo'rrdTpa 7I T

Tpvfa]lprv [Tr]q9 ryvvatcEbd K[al \ X8e'O1k Oe&^wv tXowraTrpoVI Icai t t

8].ov, 'Eppet 'HpaXei~ 47r[ .............. . ......] a[...

.................. . o o ............ .......... .] [] Ica l/ e t Eor ev
[-
[.]oa,,pI,, 7-o, v ,,[ ,o,o[...
]r xp.............a olo,,a ... I. ......
...... ]?t?, , [IhrwpX,,ov
.IAa'roXI'rov(
.ov.y[e'-....o......] &o
Kal 7roxeC]/PapX?74; TOO HaOvpITrov ical 'o[i3 Ic at\?''eJL&/1 (?)]
c7ra' dw8pCiv 'rTOV\ w TO v6[Mov oo9covTa(... I.... e]14 72)v a9OaXCtTdT??

X[e]T.1..c [....................]ov [8]paT~e . T [... .......

..c]aL 18ta [..... ]0p[ ............
This inscription, unfortunately much mutilated, is carefully cut in letter
-006--008 high between ruled lines on a slab of limestone, the remaining
of which measures "26 x '22. According to the Museum Journal, the sto

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282 J. G. MILNE

came from Erment. It is

xxxviii. p. 308. Date: 80/69
In spite of the damaged st
to the restoration of the nam
which gives the first instance
tion of Ptolemy XIII and h
sufficient to show that it has
of the Pathyrite nome.
An important point is illustr
Herakles. As soon as the Gr
at Naukratis, a regular tradin
they gathered concerning th
homes, and furnished mater
information was, however,
gods, the forms by which th
festivals were conducted, wh
most strikingly, were repor
identity of most of the Gre
any true philosophy of religio
principles and ideas of theo
resemblance in outward forms
fication; until the absurdity
practically all the names of
The result of this theory w
Alexander, and its organisat
siderable numbers of Helleni
country, they found themselv
They had no need to build t
had been accustomed to wors
priests of gods whom their
under different names. So t
with the Egyptians.
These Egyptians, on their sid
fication of gods proposed by
in fact, a fusion of many sy
strata of negro and Libyan,
had been built an edifice co
varied by fragments of H
Greek gods could readily be
of the Egyptian deities alre
Osiris; the addition of a four
The alteration in the posit
tributed to the amalgamatio

no. the
1 Jouguet restored 9296, published
name in an i
from Hermopolis 2 See Petrie,
Magna in theReligi
Ghiz

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT. 283

old and middle kingdoms, the power of the pries

steadily, and their wealth increased, till the culm
kings of the twenty-first dynasty. While they
position, it would probably be to their advantage
as every new god could be made an excuse for dem
But the position was entirely reversed when Egy
foreign invaders, who took less interest in the go
and when foreign kings ruled the country, each
much of the temple property as possible. The
problem, what to do with their plethora of gods
could worship in proper style on their diminish
god was once created, he could not be annihil
expedient of amalgamation.
The dedication to Hermes-Herakles now under
by this process. In pure Greek theology, there o
nection between these gods. But in the Graeco
represented Thoth, and Herakles Khonsu. Tho
lunar gods, and therefore easily identified: and t
tion in the district about Pathyris and Hermonth
rence of the proper name Khonsthout, which is f
also, Mr. Griffith informs me, in demotic. So th
shipped Thoth-Khonsu as Hermes-Herakles.
Another instance of 'translation' of Egyptian
be cited to show the utter confusion to which t
been reduced. There is in the Berlin Museum
fifth year of Augustus, to Herakles-Harpokrates
represents Har-shef, the local form of Horus at
whom he was there usually identified: and so
equate him further with another Horus, and ma
Harpokrates out of two gods who originally h
common.

VI.-GHIZEH MUSEUM, No. 9223.

CYTY CKAl. i AO IM FKW HAILMA KKAA NIT(Jl

ENAfX
KAIYCTI YMNCIAfPXWII. A NO66T H ATT-O. H fAC.YA EAIKHC
A AlI 0NTI 0AY
Y IM H ICMATITE
OYAYP I A-
Al0Yff0 H ME I:OIAOTIAlC
IA0YTOYK (AffolcioY
YYMNACIAP HCANTO NOGET TOCYI N(JIMAPKOY
:AYH AAIMO N O o IcO I APXHCANTOC
NO THCANT
KAI ONOCF 8Y ATPril31.KOYAYPHAl
MNACIAfXHCAN Y
OCKAIAI-t oGeOTHCA NTOC
A T NATT C HIE PACOYMEAIK
hkNACIAFPX C KAIXYCTK
H KOTLJ +H+IC KHCCYNOAOY
ATITETIM.HMENW1?N
TOYC TTUCJT OY 1+A. ENLJW 8' -c

I E.g. Louvre pap. 5511. 2 No. 10231.

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 284 J G. MILNE

EbrvXCO9 (cat wr' (vyaO8(

ddpx t) YadpX
o-vvOoO, IclyK
4rl0o-pLar t T
AVprlXiov Oeolhkov 0roi ical 'A po8to'ov uryvplvao-tapX?'o-avroK ica. WyW.vo-
e7To-av7ro,calvtwvO
vaoatapXroaavro McdpKcov
tcaywoo9ETro-avoro AviprXtov
, Ovwarpt86) E'8a'ovo
Mdp'cov ApylXlov. 'e'-
'Appo8tov yv.
pacor 70oi j Kaic v E qavltovo prvpvao-tapXto-avro 0 cat dywvooTjo-avTro I
d'rravr7wv d'b 7i 9 tepct OIGve/LXtKcr Ka, 4ca vrtlctt oQvvoov PYO'VO[v '7"YJ]vL-
vao-tapXKcorywv # lf ao-,LTart TeTttLL/I-V(V" I []Trov" rprpTOV, aPaev/LVW X'.

The marble tablet on which this inscription is cut, measuring "25 x "665,
has been much broken, but practically nothing has been lost. The letters
are fairly well cut, '01-'012 high, except in the last line, where they are -02.
The general tenor of the inscription, and the use of marble, make it highly
probable that it comes from Alexandria. The date is about 250 A.D., in the
first year of some unnamed emperor: as M. Seymour de Ricci has pointed
out to me, the gentile names of the father and grandfather of the dedicator
show that it cannot be much earlier.
This text adds a fresh association to the number of those already known
to have existed at Alexandria. Such associations as the one here named,
which was connected with the theatre and gymnasium, probably supplied the
nuclei out of which grew the circus factions which in Byzantine times
absorbed all the interests and energies of the people of Alexandria.
The catalogue of ancestral honours is very characteristic of this period.
There was, it is true, a substantial reason for pride in the fact that a man's
ancestors had been gymnasiarchs: as Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt have shown
reason to suppose that this conferred exemption from poll-tax.' But minor
distinctions are freely recorded: perhaps the most remarkable example is an
inscription of the reign of Caracalla, at Alexandria, where the magistrate by
whom it was set up gives the names of, and petty offices held by, twenty-nine
of Ihis ancestors, relatives, and connexions.2

VII.-GHIZEH MUSEUM, NO. 9293.

Y n E P AYTOK PATO POC KAIC A P O C
W/ 1 /// C E B A CET O Y FE PM A N I
KOY TYXH E KAI TOY-A NTO " OOIKOY
AYTOY H FA O E AM E"I THI J P O E K AI
AlC A M OT E P O I n A TO
K QAA OYOOY IATPOI. T H N AN OIKO

A OMN H N , r 4 HC CANTO K AT E Y
E 8 E IAN E f Ar A O o W
E T 0 Y C E. &r O)M 0 Y A Y1 T 0
K P AT 0 F 0 E K A I CA POC
'/~EPMAN;//E~l, E 8 A CNT 0 Y
'/,E P /V A N I K OY nlA X CO N I
1 Oxyrhynchus Pap. ii. p. 221. 2 Alexandria Museum, no. 108.

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT. 285

'T7rep AroKpdCropov Kalaapov I [Ao]e.T[tavo3] Je/3ac-To0 r.epiav l I Ko

T7vXn Kal 70To V~'iTvr ot'ov j a6ro3 'LHpa OE /. LE yO'T77 tpoIC Kcai IIalo
aforTEpot Id~wro9 I KoXXotOov iarpo0 TLV Avotio [~3ov E[o]4aavro car'
e - f3petav '7r' xya6&* | rovg i4088tov A'ro IKpdaOpOi Kai'apo, I [Aopt-
rtavov] epa/aerov I [F]eppavteoir, Ilax D ?'.

The limestone stele on which this inscription is cut, in letters *018-'023

high, is of Egyptian shape, with rounded pediment, in which is the winged
disk with pendent uraei, and measures -79 x "52. Under the disk are two
roughly cut cows, facing each other. The date is May 13th, 88 A.D.
The main interest of the inscription lies in the dedication to Hera, which
is almost unique in Egypt. It is true that at Naukratis the Samians built a
temple to Hera the great goddess of their home 1: but the early cults of
Naukratis were isolated from the rest of Egypt. In Graeco-Egyptian theology
Hera hardly ever appears. Herodotus states that she was one of the Greek
deities whose names did not come from Egypt 2: in other words, that she did
not resemble any particular Egyptian goddess. Only in the extreme south,
at Elephantine, she was equated with the cataract-goddess Sati3; and
the temple of Sati there was known to the Greeks as the Heraion 4: and at
Thebes there was also a building called the Heraion in Greek documents5.
But at Alexandria, where it niight have been expected that traces of her
worship would be found, there is no mention of her in inscriptions and no
representation of her on terracottas or coins, except for a single type of Hera
Argeia on a tetradrachm of Nero.6 It is therefore somewhat remarkable to
find two physicians, who, to judge by their names, were of Egyptian race,
dedicating a building to Hera, apparently as a purely Greek goddess, and with
the Greek associations of the cows given in the relief.
In the second and eleventh lines of the inscription, the name of'
Domitian has been erased, as usually occurs.

VIII.-GHIZEH MUSEUM, No. 9230.

APTEMI AoE
PEPrAIHE

'AprT oP80~ IIlepyalrj.

This inscription is cut on a roughly panelled slab of blue
-29 x -35, in letters -02-'028 high. Date-fourth century B.c.
The find-spot of this stone is unfortunately not recorded: but
place in Egypt from which it is likely to have come is Naukra
case, it represents a local Hellenic cult transported into Egypt
colonists: Artemis of Perga would stand for any Pamphylian settle
same position as Zeus for the Aeginetans, Apollo for the Milesians
for the Samians at Naukratis.

1 Hdt. ii. 178. * J. P. Mahaffy, Hermathena, 1896, p. 273.

2 Hdt. ii. 50. 5 Turin pap. 1.
C.I.CG. iii. 4893; M. L. Strack, Dyn. Plol.6 B.M. Cat. Coins, 'Alexandria,' 132.
p. 251, no. 95: C.I.L. iii. 75.

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 286 J. G. MILNE

IX.-GHIZEH MUSEU

AP TE I# I X1 .P
AE ZYN E 4 H B
P/M H NANEe
]'Apvre-tt8pov I[ ]as cavveclj/ov I []'Epr^v

Only half of the black granite statuette base, on which this is cut
remains: it measures -07 high x -18 in diameter. The letters, "006 - -01
high, are apparently of the early part of the second century B.C.
The adoption in Egypt of the Greek associations of ephebi belonging to
the same year has been known previously from inscriptions found at
Soknopaiou Nesos in the Fayum.1 There, the dedications were to the local
god Soukhos: in this instance the object of worship was Hermes, doubtless in
his Greek character as patron of the gymnasium rather than as identified
with any Egyptian deity.

X.--GHIZEH MUSEUM, NO. 9267.

All

Ac

4A'

1 See Mahaffy, Ilist. of Egypt, iv. 219.

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT. 287

~::: i .

?B "
i??-;-
n:

;Z

INSCRIPTIONS DOWN SIDES OF PANELS.

(1) Left. Right. (2) Left. Right. (3) Left. Pight (4)

(lost) M I K K Z (lost) (lost)

Al A Y EY

4) Y A KY
NE 01 N A

TI no o IE
XE CI X TE
CI A A ME

n A I FIE
AH ON T TE

TA F A KE
Al AA
HO
X

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288 J. G. MILNE

INSCRIPTIONS BELOW.

(1) EIMIMENE'IIEPHEETPATIHE (2) TPEIEFAPTEKPONOYEN

OnAOIlCINAPFOCE>KAIEAPOE MENAAEA4)EOIOYETEKE
ENnOAEMOICHAAPEOEOE TOPEA>ZEYEKAF.OTPITA
PAn.. N >nOAAAAENEYEE TOCAAIAHEENEPOICINA
BEEEIOE.ONEPFOIEMEMOFHK NACEEEITPIXOAAEnAN
MAT I A I OY M.OHPAO AAEAACTAIEKAETOE
KAAEFON>OYNEKEnAIN cEMMOPETIMHE>HTOI
EANTE EEEYTAKTOi ).TNEAAXONnOAIHN
/NTECAOPOEYN' NAIEMENAIEI>n1A/
INAIAHEAEAA
NHEPOENTA>

(3) EIEKAIEAPMEFA[AYTOKPA (4) AFPIOCIETIAEIKATET

TnPEICKOIPANOCEET.O>EIC AIEAHMONAnANTA>nA
BAIAEYEEA< E P O N O Y NOCOPEEINOMOIOI<ATEI
nAIEAFI<YAOMHTHE AAnNAE4OIBOIOO>ANAPE
>" AYAPXONTACKI<AAEON
ZHNAMEFANI<PONIAHNYtlI
ZYFONAPFI KEP K<ATAEONOCEI<ACTON>
AMAnPOEPON 3NOYEIEPHACED
nONENNP
fONENN
N(O.ONTEEYNEP
AINE?IA EICEKATONAIEnAN
-INA EAYKABANTOE Al

(1) ['ApE~, "Ape~ 3poroXolYe] FLato6Pve 7(E)tXE(et'X^7Ta.

E /41 tLev 1 4 lEpi) arpar7fje I wXhototv Apwy6o,

Kalapo I 'v rvoXcLpotg 18' "Apeo4 0e pwarov.

woXXa 8' el etOee I3EcYc(cr)t OECov ep/yoVs /L'E/tyW)K[a]
cryart Kat 8pK~i .tYpao[s o ] K JXKE'w
oVPEK' 7ratwv[rj? I avr ES e7' EfVTKTO7f [PtOLO I

voi]v 're aocpot5.vY [v 7' aCTOt reKXcaV.

(2) KX,Otl Hocetiaov ,yatox0E K vavoxaiTa.

Tpet- cyap Te Kpovov E(i) uEv 3etXkEcO oi; TEKEITO 'Pa

Zetb ,ci~<, rp1ra rosy ' 'AtS ' EvEpottV & V Ud eC"
,7pl- a 8r %rdy
Srot [dy]#v b!aXov IIoX-
[, ]av IAInIav
[i-Xa]asva,'eIev
Ka[ aet,
ro' I [6'] E/L/1ope 7L/fI'ra
wa [A I [XOE'v](ov, 'AiyT 6' ~'a [Xe l'ofo]p ip[o]evra.

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT. 289

(3) ZeD KVc'Tt, LtEotare, IceXa[tve0E e ale'pt va

E4L KaZo-ap, 7a bVTnocpa ( IOP, e IC Kotpa

e6 [ fao-tXeV', c (8)Ice Kpcvov I ra7 adyxv
Ziva ,iryav Kpovi8rq ib;t Svyov ppeytic[pa
. . ] jl~a rpof.pov [ ......... . ]I7ro .. [ ......
]I atveL.x[......... ...].va[...........
(4) [ i

"Atypto r
Ha ov opeceT

av~pe I v' i
[70v' ]vo~
ei haTrv 81
These inscr
'975 x "45 x
of lettering
figures, an
Alexandria, a
are *015-03
The reliefs
epigrams bel
shows the b
second, in h
third, in ho
damaged for
So far, the
obvious. Bu
neither Mr. G
suggest any
following, ac
side from rig

(1) Osiris
(2) Thoth
(3) [ ]: Shu: Tefnut: Hathor.
(4) Ra: Atumn: Nut.
He suggests that the underlying idea is probably astrological: thus, the
opposite sides (4) and (2) are headed by Ra and Thoth for Sun and Moon:
(1) has Osiris, possibly for the planet Jupiter, and the lost figure in the front
of (3) may have been Geb, the planet Saturn. To each of these leaders were
then added his usual associates in Egyptian religious tradition.
Such a wealth of 'Canopic' figures is quite novel, and may throw some
light on the nature of these representations. The earlier vases, which were
made in sets of four to take the viscera of dead bodies when extracted during
H.S.-VOL. XXI, U

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 290 J. G. MILNE.

the process of mummification

of Amenti, are well-know
form of the later 'Canopi,'
The name Canopus for this
described them as earthen
not mention any relation
Hitherto, the types known
place in the lower world mi
older class: these types occ
at any rate, in bronze.3 B
stele goes strongly agains
connected in any way wit
vases with heads of gods we
from the place of their orig
may well have supplied the
of which may have been first
as it caught the public fanc
be the most popular: but th
this manner.
The Homeric quotations offer some points of interest. The lines down
the sides of the panels are respectively from Il. E. 31, Od. t. 5"8, and II. B.
412. The epigram on the second face is taken bodily from Il. o. 187 ff., and
in the first line has the reading Te Kpvov rejected by Aristarchus, as well as
TEKETO 7 P'a like most MSS.; while in the second line it varies from the
received text, which gives avca-a-wv as the last word. The epigram on the
third side contains a line and a half from Ii. B. 204-5, the only noticeable
variant in which is r7yvXoi j'r for ayEvXoT1?7reOw.
To the foregoing inscriptions from Ghizeh I desire to add two others of
interest.
XI.

1 Hist. Eccl. ii. 26. ' See R. S. Poole, B.M. Cat. Coins, 'Alexandria ' p. lxvi.
3 Berlin Muiseum, no. 9008.

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 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM? EGYPT. 291

'A7r6XXovt 'TXdTry [ 'AprdT76Ut wuo-1b poy

ET7EVZ, L1 'Hpa Xe. KaXXtvlY- I 'AWvoXrvto I8to
This inscription is beautifully cut, in letters -01
part of the third century B.C., on a slab of fine lim
by Professor Petrie in 1899, and is now ini the
Cambridge. He considers that there is little doubt
at Koptos.
The group of gods to whom this dedication is ad
alike in association and in epithets.

XII.

TAYtHAIoC KAhloYPNIAHNC AToAMNIAH C

XlIh ArXochE rHoc(I,. FrMI NH C XIA AEr

IFRmMIN H C TffTorToC. AMIACAo'lTAHIKH(

EnliKHNtCN ClTTPOnToC MYCIACTHC KATnf Efl.

OPAKHCErI T1h AEAMATIAC E-TI AI FTTroYIAloy
hoFoY

ZHCAC 6TH NE

T. Ap4Xtoro KaXwrovpvtavo' 'AroXXlawvi8s, I XtXlaP

PelziVry, XtX(lapXo9) Xey(lwovoo) I ty' Feplvvry, Ev'TrpoV
7avtKr49, 1w (irpowot ) IC?)vO-WV, E6riTpOTrO Mvo-la T79 K

OpaKoq9, dr1'(rpo7ro9) AeX.parlat, id'l(rporro9) AIy'ro

The stone-a slab of marble-on which this inscription is

in 1882 by a Greek dealer to M. Maspero, who made
before lie could conclude negotiations, the dealer disa
copy was published by E. Miller in the Rev. Arch. i. ser.
more was heard of the-stone till 1899, when it turned up
in Cairo, from which I got a squeeze by the aid of Mr. J
stated by the first dealer to have come from Senballa

there
2. and were two
? PAKC in small errors
1. 5, and in the
the lines original
were publicatio
wrongly divide
while to republish it in facsimile.
The date of the inscription is about 200 A D.: it is v
the official career of a man who held ultimately the p
Egypt, as to which very little is known, except that
Roman, probably of equestrian rank, appointed directly
supervise the financial administration of Egypt; while nom
to the prefect, he was virtually independent of his contr
manner of his appointment; and thus could keep a check
management of the revenue, in the interests of the emper
U2

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292 GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM EGYPT.

I have to thank the authorities of the Ghizeh Museum

publish nos. i.-x. and of the Fitzwilliam Museum for no
de Ricci for looking over the proofs of this article
readings of the Ghizeh inscriptions with those of M. J
case of no. x., of M. Bouriant, which are in his hands.
the epigrams on sides 1 and 4 of no. x. is mainly due t
Professor Ernest Gardner.
J. G. MILNE.

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