served, and shows how such monuments frequently terminated. The second bears an inscription with the names of Pamphilus of Ægilia (of the tribe of Antiochis), and Archippe, son and daughter respectively of Meiziades. Stuart, who has published this vase, states that it was found among the ruins of the Corinthian portico in the bazaar at Athens. No. 1821 resembles the last two in the mode of treatment, but contains a representation of three, instead of two, figures. Over each figure is inscribed its appropriate name. The seated one is that of a man, who is taking leave of another man who stands before him; between them is a matron (probably the mother of the deceased) in the attitude of grief. The names inscribed above the figures are, Archagoras, Pithyllis, and Polystrasus. No. 1952 is a large, solid, uninscribed urn, representing in its bas-relief a female figure seated, before whom a warrior is standing, with his right hand joined in hers. A boy behind the warrior carries a large circular shield. No. 230 is a solid sepulchral urn, on which are represented a family group of five figures. The party consists of a female seated, holding by the hand an armed warrior, over whom is inscribed the name Sosippus, and an infant who is standing before her; by her side stands another female in the attitude of grief. Behind the warrior is a boy, as on the last described urn, carrying a large shield. The sculpture is very coarse, and the workmanship of an inferior artist. No. 188 is a solid sepulchral urn, on which the parting scene is limited to two figures, an elderly man who stands and holds the hand of a seated female. Over the head of the female is her name, Ada. No. 263 is a solid sepulchral urn, ornamented with reed-work. The shape is elegant, and of the form of an egg. Within the reedwork is the name, Timophon of Anagyrus, of the tribe of Erectheis, the son of Timostratus. Having now described those urns which, being solid, must be considered as simply commemorative, we will describe three cinerary urns which are also in the Elgin collection. 5 No. 199 is a sepulchral urn, rudely excavated, but no doubt in 1 Engr. Museum Marbles,' Part Ix. pl. xxxi. fig. 4. 2 Ibid., pl. xxxiii. fig. 3. 4 Ibid., pl. xxxii. fig. 2. 3 Ibid. tended to contain the ashes of the deceased. It contains on it the representation of four figures: the two central, who are seated, are females joining hands (perhaps sisters); each is accompanied by a male figure, perhaps her husband. The names inscribed over the heads of each respectively are Mys, Philia, Metrodora, and Meles. No. 199*1 is a bronze cinerary urn, very richly wrought, of a semi-globular form, without any foot or pedestal. It was discovered in the marble vase, No. 199**, and contained a quantity of burnt bones, a small vase of alabaster, and a wreath of gold, when first disinterred. It was found on the side of the road which leads from the Peiraeus to the Salaminian ferry. There was no indication whose bones it contained. No. 2752 is a fragment of a cinerary urn, containing a representation of four figures standing. In the centre are two persons joining hands, over the heads of whom respectively are the names Demostrata and Callisto. A female stands behind each of the central figures in the attitude of affliction. 7. Inscribed Slabs. Of these, by far the most celebrated is No. 348, well known to scholars by the name of the POTIDEAN INSCRIPTION-a monument erected to the memory of the Athenians who fell in battle before the walls of Potidæa, in в.c. 432, Olymp. 87. 1. It was found in the plain of the Academy at Athens, and was brought to England by Lord Elgin. The first four lines are so effaced, that nothing can be made of them except by conjecture; and the endings of the remaining eight are also broken off, and have been restored conjecturally by Thiersch and Boeckh, who have successively edited this monument; the first at Munich, in 1816, and the second in his Corpus Inscript., No. I. p. 300. As the inscription is one of great interest, we give a transcript of it in the note at the bottom of the page.3 Historically, it has this additional value, that it records an 1 Engr. Vignette to Part IX. 2 Engr. Museum Marbles,' Part 1x. pl. xxxi. figs. 1, 2. 3 Potidean Inscription, as edited by Boeckh, Corp. Inscript. The portions within brackets are supplied conjecturally.- 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Αἰθὴρ μὲμ ψυχὰς ὑπεδέξατο, σω[ματα δε χθών] 6. event minutely described by Thucydides, lib. I. c. 62, and is curious besides palæographically, for reasons which we need not discuss here. The other sepulchral inscriptions are, that to a young man named Plutarchus, No. 236.-No. 274, engraved on a piece of entablature, and consisting of two lines in prose, and an epitaph in sixteen elegiac verses, inscribed to the memory of Publius Ælius Phædrus, son of Pistoteles of Sunium.-No. 345, one line in prose and two in verse, commemorative of Polyllus, and stating that Polystratus had raised a statue to the deceased.—No. 366, an elegiac inscription in ten verses, the two first and two last of which are elegiacs, and the rest hexameters, to the memory of a young lady of extraordinary beauty, named Tryphera, who died at the early age of twenty-five years.-No. 372, which has been arranged among the sepulchral stelæ, but which we think on the whole falls better under the class of sepulchral inscriptions. The monument consists of a Greek inscription of four lines and a half, part of which is written in prose and part in verse. It informs us that it was set up by a mother to the memory of her two sons, Diitrephes and Pericles (the former a soldier of Parium), and also to the memory of her daughter Agneis, and her brother Demophoon. VI. MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS. There are some objects which do not appear to fall satisfactorily under any of the general heads above enumerated, and which we have therefore determined to place by themselves under a class which we call Miscellaneous. The first is No. 337,' a small and somewhat elegant object which Visconti has called an Altar, but which it seems more probably is a Candelabrum. It is circular, and decorated with four female figures, who are dancing round it while one is playing upon the lyre. The dance may perhaps be of that kind called Emmeleia, all the evolutions of which were regulated by music accompanied by the voice. 6. Τῶν δε · Ποτιδαίας δ ̓ ἀμφὶ πύλας ἔ[πεσον] 7. Εχθρων δ' οἱ μὲν ἔχουσι τάφου μέρος, οἳ [δὲ φυγόντες] 8. Τεῖχος πιστοτάτην ἐλπιδ ̓ ἔθεντο [βίου] ̓́Ανδρας μὲμ πόλις ἥδε ποθεῖ καὶ δ[ῆμος Ερεχθέως] Πρόσθε Ποτιδαίας οἳ θάνον ἐμ π[ρομάχοις] The second class of such objects are four Amphora, Nos. 238, 257, 292, 344,1 brought from Athens by the Earl of Elgin. The bodies of all these vessels taper towards the bottom, and must have been supported by stands. They were used not only for wine, but for other liquids. They vary considerably in their solid capacity, No. 257 holding about eight quarts, and No. 238 containing thirtyone quarts and one pint. The latter, though found at Athens, from the form of some letters upon the outer edge of the orifice, appears to have been the work of a Roman artist. To this class may be added a very curious sun-dial, No. 186.2 Dr. Spon noticed this sun-dial in 1675, in the court of the church called Panagia Gorgopiko, and it was supposed to have been taken from the Acropolis, but without reason. It contains on the exterior of the two western faces the name of the mathematician Phædrus, the son of Zoilus, of the Pæanian deme, who constructed it. From the shape of the letters it is supposed that the monument itself is not earlier than the time of the Emperor Severus. VII.-INSCRIPTIONS. As in the case of the other contents of the Elgin Room, so also in that of the Inscriptions, it will be convenient to adopt certain subdivisions under which they may be grouped, and then to select one or more of the most important in each group for more especial commemoration. We shall adopt, therefore, the following subdivisions, placing however the Sigean inscription apart from the rest, and at the head of those which follow, as that which has obtained the greatest European celebrity :- 1. Those which relate to Temples. 2. Those which relate to Treaties. 3. Those which relate to the Athenian Tribes. 4. Those which relate to the Public Games. 5. Those containing Decrees. 6. Miscellaneous Fragments. To take first the Sigean Inscription: The Sigean inscription, No. 107, was procured by Lord Elgin, when ambassador at Constantinople, from the porch of a village church on the promontory of Sigeum. It had been published pre 1 Engr. 'Museum Marbles,' Part IX. pl. xlii. figs. 1, 2, 3, 4. |
