Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/299

Additions and Corrections. 281 by Professor Sayce; perhaps iioo B.C. He questions the reading of one or two of the cuneiform characters, as well as the value of the Hittite signs proposed by the Professor, and asks for fresh examination of the cast. He further asks whether it were not possible to institute a comparison between Phoenician letters and Hittite hieroglyphs, as was done for the Cypriote syllabary, with the not improbable result that, like the latter, the Punic alphabet would be found to have been derived from Hittite signs. The issue involved in the points raised by M. Amiaud was noticed by Ed. Meyer, Geschichte des Allerthums, tom. I p. 238, as tending to upset the long- established theory that the Phoenicians borrowed their letters from Egypt. Fig. 392. — View of the Mound, or Tell. Jerabis. Vol. ii. page 49. Here is a summary of the account of the Jerablus (or Jerabis) monuments which M. Boscowen sent to the Graphic. Facing the entrance, at the extremity of the trench, are two imperfect tablets which formed part of an adora- tion scene, each occupied by a figure, or rather the upper part of a figure, for the legs of the goddess, described in another place, are broken from above the knees; whilst of the second figure, or priestess, the whole of the under-part up to the hips has disappeared. She is wrapped in loose drapery, which doubtless covered her from head to foot ; the fore-arms alone are exposed. The curious band about her waist should be noticed ; it consists of twin cords looped behind ; which seem to have been in the prophet's mind when he wrote, " The women, having cords around their body, sit by the wayside ; and one says to her companion, why was I not chosen, and my cord broken?" (Baruch vi. 42). An inscription of four lines, in Hittite characters, occupies the upper part of this stone. A little further were three figures clearly moving in a procession — a priest, recognizable by his long Assyrian robe, and two warriors, with the usual short tunic, fringed border, and curled shoes. An interlaced band enframed the stone, but the lowermost is alone extant. The manipulation of the dress and general character of these figures, notably the hiero- glyphs, make it self-evident that they were executed for and by Hittites before Carchemish fell to Sargon, and were part of a religious pomp, like the sculptures at Eyuk and lasili-Kaia. The hooded mantle of the priestess, albeit somewhat dif- ferently arranged, recalls the Merash stelas (Figs. 280, 281) ; and the long garment of the central figure in the next stone is akin to the Pterian chasuble (Figs. 314, 328) ; whilst the short tunic is common to Boghaz-Kcui, Lydia, and Phrygia.