The beginning of this preamble may be illustrated by that of the inscription of Rosetta, which runs nearly thus:
In the reign of the young king ... Ptolemy Epiphanes the munificent ... the son of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, the gods Philopatores ... in the year IX; the priest of Alexander and of the gods Soteres, and of the gods Adelphi, and of the gods Evergetae, and of the gods Philopatores, and of the god Epiphanes the munificent being Aëtus, the son of Aëtus: the prize bearer of Berenice Evergetis being Pyrrha the daughter of Philinus: the basket bearer of Arsinoe Philadelphus being Areia daughter of Diogenes; and the priestess of Arsinoe Philopator, Irene the daughter of Ptolemy: on the 4th day of Xanthicus, or the 18th of Mechir: it was decreed....
In comparing the preamble of the deed of sale with this monument, we have first to observe the successive addition of the names of Philometor, Eupator, and the Evergetae, to the titles of the priests of Alexander and his successors. Eupator, it seems, according to other authorities, cited by Böckh, was Ptolemy Evergetes II, the successor of Philometor, called also Cacergetes and Physcon; and the Evergetae, named after him, can only have been the reigning sovereigns, before called Philometores Soteres: and Cleopatra, at least, had some right to the name Evergetis, as having derived it from her husband, so that she may easily be supposed to have shared it occasionally with her son. The remaining part of the preamble varies but little, except that Arsinoe, instead of Philopator, is called Eupator: but this diversity is not more material than the substitution of Adelphi for Philadelphi, which frequently occurs. The double date is well known to have been adopted by Cleopatra and Alexander, and its origin is sufficiently explained by Eusebius and Porphyry. Professor Böckh makes the year, 104 B. C.; but from a comparison of different authorities it seems rather more probable that it was 106 B. C., at least so I have been obliged to arrange it in a table, formed from a comparison of the chronologies of Porphyry, Champollion Figeac, and St. Martin, which I have inserted in an Appendix.
TRANSLATION OF MR. GREY’S GREEK ANTIGRAPH.
(1) Copy of an Egyptian Writing respecting the Dead Bodies in Thyn. having been (2) ratif....
(3) In the XXXVIth year; Athyr [III] 20, after the usual preamble, this writing witnesses: that the ¿Dresser? (4) among the servants of the great goddess [Isis?] Onnophris the son of Horus and of Senpoeris, [aged about] forty, lively, tall, of a sallow complexion, hollow eyed, (5) and bald, has ceded voluntarily for the price of ... to Horus the son of Horus and of Senpoeris, (6) one moiety of the third part of the Collection for the dead (7) lying in Thynabunun, on the Libyan side of the Theban suburb, (8) in the Memnonia: likewise one moiety of the third part of the Services or Liturgies (9) and so forth: their names being | Muthes the son of Spotus, with (10) his children (10) and all his household; Chapocrates the son of Nechthmonthes, with his children and all; Arsiesis the son of Nechthmonthes; likewise Petemestus the son of (11) Nechthmonthes; likewise Arsiesis the son of Zminis; likewise (12) Osoroeris the son of [Horus]; likewise Spotus the son of Chapochonsis; likewise (13) Zoglyphus: from which there belongs to Asos the son of Horus and of Senpoeris (14) “thy” younger brother, one of [or, the younger brother of] the same ¿Dressers? a moiety of the (15) aforesaid third part of the services and fruits and (16) so forth. He has sold it to him in the year XXXVI; 20 Athyr, in the reign of the everlasting (17) king, for the completion of the third part. Also a moiety of the fruits (18) ¿and so forth? of the ¿other? dead bodies in Thy. that is to say, Pateutemis with his children and (19) all; and a moiety of the fruits belonging to me from the property of (20) Petechonsis the milk bearer, and from a place on the Asiatic side, called (21) Phrecages, with the dead bodies in it; of which a moiety belongs to the (22) same Asos: all these things I have sold to him. They are thine, (23) and I have received their price from thee, and I make no demand upon thee (24) for them from this day: and if any person disturb thee (25) in the possession of them, I will withstand the attempt, and if I do not [otherwise] repel it (26) I will use compulsory means. Written by Horus the son of Phabis, the writer of the (27) [priests] of Amonrasonther, and the other gods of the temple. (28) Witnesses: Erieus the son of Phanres. Peteartres the son of Pateutemis. (29) Petearpocrates the son of [Horus]. Snachomneus the son of Peteuris. Snachomes (30) the son of Psenchonsis. Totoes the son of Phibis. Portis the son of Apollonius. Zminis (31) the son of Petemestus. Peteutemis the son of Arsiesis. Amonorytius (32) the son of Pacemis. Horus the son of Chimnaraus. Armenis the son of Zthenaetis (33). Maësis the son of Mirsis. Antimachus the son of Antigenes. Petophois the son of Phibis. (34) Panas the son of Petosiris. Witnesses 16.
Copy of the Registry. In the year XXXVI; the ninth of Choeak [IV]. Transacted at the table in Diospolis, at which Lysimachus is the President of the 20th department; in the account of Asclepiades and Zminis, farmers of the tax, in which the subscribing clerk is Ptolemaeus: the purchaser Horus the son of Horus the ¿Dresser? a part of the sum, collected by them, on account of the dead bodies lying in Thynabunun, in the Memnonian tombs of the Libyan suburb of Thebes, for the services which are performed. Bought of Onnophris the son of Horus, Pieces of brass 400 . Z . . The end.
Lysimach. subscribes.