DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5009#0375
THE PALAEOGRAPHY OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 340
-Leake on a small votive helmet at Olympia, and the inscription on
an early vase of Athens, IM3N0 J © AN 0 3N3 0 ANOT, but the first
"He of a)i inscription which belongs to the second mode of writing
adopted at a later period by the Greeks, is always inscribed from
right to left. A remarkable feature of this very early period is the
great irregularity of size in the letters, the 0 being generally very
small. The second mode is termed Boustrophedon, /Sou-o-Tpoc^-Soi',
°r ox-turning-wise, in which the direction of the lines alternated, as
111 the course of a plough, so that the first line began on the right,
the second on the left, immediately beneath the end of the first.
"he most ancient inscriptions are written in this manner, which is
thus a certain indication of antiquity—when, however, the primi-
tive form of the letters is in harmony with this peculiar arrangement
°f the lines; for the Boustrophedon has been imitated at a period
when it was no longer in use, so as to give the inscription the
appearance of an antiquity which it did not in reality possess. An
inscription, therefore, written in Boustrophedon, should bo carefully
examined to see if the form of the letters and the spelling of the
words concur in proving its authenticity, as belonging to the ancient
Greek style. In the course of time, and about the eighth century B.C.,
the Boustrophedon was abandoned, and the uniform direction of the
lines from left to right generally adopted. An inscription will be
thus : 1. In the first style, and in the most ancient, if it is traced
from right to left, and if the letters have the_ forms of the early
alphabet: no inscription is known of this first period. 2. In the
second style, and anterior to the seventh century B.C., if it presents the
forms of the alphabet of that period, and if its lines are traced in the
manner termed Boustrophedon. 3. In the third style, and anterior
to the end of the fifth century, B.C., if not being traced in the Bous-
trophedon, it does not present any of the four double letters, Z, *, H, n,
and if the forms of the letters still preserve the traces of the old
style. (It must be stated here that the presence of the H in inscrip-
tions of this period will not invalidate their antiquity, as it is
introduced as an aspirate, as HEKATON, exarov, and not as a
long E, which was expressed in inscriptions of that period by two
E's, as MAIEEP for MATHP). 4. In the fourth style, and
posterior to the end of the fifth century B.C., if the twenty-four
letters of the Greek alphabet are found in an inscription. Inscrip-
tions of this kind are the most usual. These may be also divided
into a number of different epochs, comprising a period of nine
centuries, almost to the time of the Lower Empire. A vertical
mode of engraving inscriptions was sometimes used by the Greeks,
termed kionedon, or columnar. In this mode of engraving monu-
-Leake on a small votive helmet at Olympia, and the inscription on
an early vase of Athens, IM3N0 J © AN 0 3N3 0 ANOT, but the first
"He of a)i inscription which belongs to the second mode of writing
adopted at a later period by the Greeks, is always inscribed from
right to left. A remarkable feature of this very early period is the
great irregularity of size in the letters, the 0 being generally very
small. The second mode is termed Boustrophedon, /Sou-o-Tpoc^-Soi',
°r ox-turning-wise, in which the direction of the lines alternated, as
111 the course of a plough, so that the first line began on the right,
the second on the left, immediately beneath the end of the first.
"he most ancient inscriptions are written in this manner, which is
thus a certain indication of antiquity—when, however, the primi-
tive form of the letters is in harmony with this peculiar arrangement
°f the lines; for the Boustrophedon has been imitated at a period
when it was no longer in use, so as to give the inscription the
appearance of an antiquity which it did not in reality possess. An
inscription, therefore, written in Boustrophedon, should bo carefully
examined to see if the form of the letters and the spelling of the
words concur in proving its authenticity, as belonging to the ancient
Greek style. In the course of time, and about the eighth century B.C.,
the Boustrophedon was abandoned, and the uniform direction of the
lines from left to right generally adopted. An inscription will be
thus : 1. In the first style, and in the most ancient, if it is traced
from right to left, and if the letters have the_ forms of the early
alphabet: no inscription is known of this first period. 2. In the
second style, and anterior to the seventh century B.C., if it presents the
forms of the alphabet of that period, and if its lines are traced in the
manner termed Boustrophedon. 3. In the third style, and anterior
to the end of the fifth century, B.C., if not being traced in the Bous-
trophedon, it does not present any of the four double letters, Z, *, H, n,
and if the forms of the letters still preserve the traces of the old
style. (It must be stated here that the presence of the H in inscrip-
tions of this period will not invalidate their antiquity, as it is
introduced as an aspirate, as HEKATON, exarov, and not as a
long E, which was expressed in inscriptions of that period by two
E's, as MAIEEP for MATHP). 4. In the fourth style, and
posterior to the end of the fifth century B.C., if the twenty-four
letters of the Greek alphabet are found in an inscription. Inscrip-
tions of this kind are the most usual. These may be also divided
into a number of different epochs, comprising a period of nine
centuries, almost to the time of the Lower Empire. A vertical
mode of engraving inscriptions was sometimes used by the Greeks,
termed kionedon, or columnar. In this mode of engraving monu-