TALBOT8636

[fragment]

B M ¹
Jan 9. 1863

My dear M^r Talbot

I was very sorry to be obliged to defer reading your translations till our next Meeting as our whole time last Wedn^y Ev^g was taken up by an examination & discussion of certain Papyri inscribed with Greek writing – now in M^r Mayer’s Museum ² – at Liverpool – and which have been interpreted by the too notorious Greek, Simonides who was himself present – We came to no formal conclusion but I dont think there were 3 people in the room who believe in any of them – Many thanks for your notes on the Ph œnician Inscription – I think you are quite right about [Hebrew text] – in deed the last letter was a printers error [Hebrew character] for [Hebrew character]. I had written in my copy & revise [Hebrew character] and but the Printer’s devil changed it after it left my hands to [hebrew] – I feel less sure about [Hebrew text] – as I cannot trace the loss of the limb in the [Hebrew character] and do not know of any Ph œn. Inscr. where you find [Hebrew Text] [illegible deletion] though there may be one – Malek-itan – may of course be translated king God & not king – and the whole name would then as you say answer to [Greek text] – but this seems hardly necessary to suppose – On the Inscr^s I have been editing for the Museum we have Malek-itan Baal Malák, Baalmalek, Abdmelearl Amt Melearl, [Meltarl?]-Halats, Hatmeleal &c These I take to be simple name [sic] – resolvable, however, if Ewald likes into the primary names of the Gods – but this is scarcely required –

I have not yet seen Ewald’s paper but I have heard from him & he promises to send it to me – I dont agree with him that the D and R are so alike as to be easily confounded (at all events not in all cases) on this Inscr. and therefore I stick to my own