Mar.6] SOCIETYOF. BIBLICAL ARCH/EOLOGY. [1894.(2) whilst Zaid-ilwas poor(i.e., couldnotmakeofferings)in
the (festival) monthof (the goddess)Hat-hor,andso they allotted
to him fromall the temples of the deities of Egypt theirtmh,(viz.)
garments('L«£,ly*£)of byssos (comp.HebrewV&,onlyin later
booksof the Old Testament)for his i^ (dowry? decoration ?), and
theydid him (or, for him ?) elevate
(3) his Nti? till (or with) the gift ( ~j^o) of the temple of the god
Serapis,in the month Khoyakof the year two-and-twentyof (lit. to,
for)Talmiththe king; andZaid-il set his 1Q7 (or VQ^) and his
sarcophagusunderthe protection of Serapis andof the deities of his
people(Golenisheff: of the deities withhim)in his sanctuary (or,
in their sanctuaries?).
Regardingthe palaeography, the characters havegenerallythe
old Minaean forms(comp.my " Siidarab. Chrestomathie,"§ 5), but
thereare some characteristicdeviations,which clearlypoint to a
verylate period of time. So we find, it is true, $ (not ^), ^ and
£, but beside it \ (for lj), ^ (for ^, Arabic t), and only one form
for "| and \
Thegrammaticalformsare Minaean ; compare for the shaf'el
(insteadof the Sabaeanhaf'el)i,- »«..., ll^ttj,line1, and ,^> i\. ,..»..
tfyhsnfa,line3; for the suffixes {JM and *_, (BJ and Qttj),instead
of Sabaean ^js and y*2, (inandTOH)<^»Wa,line2, »**^y«J ,
OttJrTfTOJl,line 2, etc. ; for cJ, 3 (preposition of dative insteadof
1) J\jo 'S, TWTTSj line1, etc., andfor the orthographical appli
cationof the n (for the vowels i and a) comp. ^.jo,TTOTS
(ba-yaumai),line 1, ,...^y, OttJnrrOn(accusative),line 2, ijS-j^
nfTTQ (ba-warhi),line 2 and 3, etc. Butin the lexicon, the late
origin of our inscription is evident, as is shown by the words
<UjJj 5 ni2r7p (broken plur.of Jj , U?p), taXa/io?,calmus, ^ejj
yObyssos,andperhaps^J , fTO]"!, if tne latter wouldbe identified
withTc/mxo?"piece,"whichoccursalsoin the Talmud as MnrTOJl
and Nnrvnrv** But I think it not impossible thatthe Babyl. tatndhu," to hold, seize,to
giveas an investiture " (Heb. TJDri),is to be compared here.
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