Newton, Charles T. [Hrsg.]; Pullan, Richard P. [Hrsg.]: A history of discoveries at Halicarnassus, Cnidus and Branchidae (Band 2, Teil 2) (London, 1863)

G?0 APPENDIX SO. II.

of these alabastra already mentioned, the Persian
cuneiform inscription, as that of the dominant
race, comes first; then the Median; the Assyrian
and the Egyptian last, the relative position of the
two last being intended apparently to mark their
lower rank as conquered countries.

It may be inferred from the place of the hiero-
glyphical cartouche in the middle of the vase, and
the cramped and awkward position of the cunei-
form inscription, that the hieroglyphics were en-
graved in Egypt, where these alabastra were
originally manufactured, and the cuneiform in-
scriptions added after their exportation to Persia.
Ln the Egyptian inscription the name of the king
is not preceded, as in Egyptian cartouches gene-
rally, by the usual royal titles, nor accompanied
by a prcenomen.

With the vase bearing the name of Xerxes,
there were found in the Mausoleum several other
alabastra ; one of these was inscribed on the
shoulder with the numerals "f NA == 751: on
another were the numerals Z ? T = 293. The
forms of these letters show that thev are not of a
later date than the time of Mausolus himself. As
far as I know, these numerals present the earliest
examples of this mode of notation, in which the
numbers are reckoned decimally, from left to right.
(See Franz. Elementa Epigraph. Grace, p. 350.)

These numerals may denote that the alabastra
were entered in a general register of the offerings
made to so celebrated a tomb as that of the Carian
monarch.