A Dissertation upon a Parthian Coin, with Characters on the Reverse Resembling Those of the Palmyrenes. In a Letter from the Rev. John Swinton, M. A. of Christ-Church, Oxon. F. R. S. to the Rev. Thomas Birch, D. D. Secret. R. S.

Aleph Α Gimel Γ Mem Μ Lamed Λ Ajin Ι Schin vel Sin Σ Jod Ω Num. I. pag. 596 — 599. Ap Ioan. Swinton, A.M. Oxonienf. R.S.S. Num. II. pag. 594. ÆR In Gaza Ducus Devonienf. Num. III. pag. 594 &c 606. In Scrin. Bodleian. Oxon. J. Mynde Sc. LXXXIX. A Dissertation upon a Parthian Coin, with Characters on the Reverse resembling those of the Palmyrenes. In a Letter from the Rev. John Swinton, M.A. of Christ-Church, Oxon. F. R. S. to the Rev. Thomas Birch, D. D. Secret. R. S. Reverend Sir, Read April 8, 1756. I Met some years since with a small brass medal, in but indifferent conservation; which I have lately discovered, by comparing it with others, to be a Parthian coin. This medal, as I apprehend, exhibits the head of Vologeses III. adorned with a beard and a tiara, after the Parthian manner, together with a Beta behind it, that seems to point out to us the place in which it was struck. The reverse presents to our view a strange sort of instrument, or machine, which perhaps may be imagined to represent a key, besides some traces of characters in a great measure defaced, and, if I am not vastly mistaken, four entire Palmyrene letters. As I remember not to have seen any of the Palmyrene elements hitherto on antient coins, I hope I shall be indulged the liberty of submitting a few cursory remarks upon that now before me, which may be esteemed a real curiosity, to the consideration of our most learned and illustrious Society. Nor shall I make any other apology for these remarks, however jejune they may appear, than that here hinted at; especially, as the affinity between the the subject of them and those of my former letters, which the Society have done me the honour to publish in the last volume of the Philosophical Transactions, seems to render every thing of that kind altogether unnecessary. 1. That the medal here described ought to be ranked amongst the Parthian coins, is abundantly clear from a bare inspection of the draughts of several of those (1) coins. And that it was struck in the reign of Vologeses III. we may conclude at least extremely probable, from two similar Parthian coins, exhibiting the head of the same prince. One of these, which belongs to His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, has preserved on the reverse the following words, or rather parts of words (2), . . . . ΒΑΣΙΛΕ . . . . ΑΓΑΣΟΤΤ . . . . ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΤΤ . . . . ΙΑΕΛΛΗΝΟC, together with the three Greek numeral letters ΑΞΤ; and the other, now in the possession of the University of Oxford, the very instrument, or machine, that occurs on the medal I am here endeavouring to explain, and a legend, consisting of strange characters, so injured by time as to be rendered thereby absolutely illegible. The Greek numerals ΑΞΤ indicate the piece, on which they appear, and not improbably that likewise now before me, as well as the other in the Bodleian cabinet, to have been coined in the 461st year of the Parthian æra, generally term- (1) J. Foy Vaill. in Arsacid. Imper. p. 364, 366. Parisiis, 1728. Numism. Antiqu. collect. a Thom. Pembroch. et Montis Gomer. Com. P. 2. T. 76. (2) Nicol. Fran. Haym Roman. Del Tesor. Britan. Vol. Second. p. 37. In Londra, 1720. ed the æra of the Arsacidæ, (3) nearly coincident with the 205th of CHRIST, when Septimius Severus sat upon the imperial throne. 2. With regard to the Beta behind the head of Vologeses III. which is also visible on several other Parthian coins, I shall beg leave to remark, that it cannot well be considered as the initial letter of the word ΒΟΛΑΓΑΣΗΣ, or ΒΟΛΑΓΑΣΟΥ, the name of the prince in whose reign these medals were struck. For that very name originally occurred, as is evident from the part of it which still remains, on the reverse of the Duke of Devonshire's coin, with a publication of which the learned world has been obliged by Sig. Haym. It will therefore be readily acknowledged, by all who have been conversant in this branch of literature, that the Beta here was intended to represent the word ΒΟΛΑΓΑΣΙΑΚ, ΒΟΛΟΓΕΣΙΑΚ, ΒΟΛΑΓΑΣΙΑΔΟΣ, or ΒΟΛΟΓΕΣΙΑΔΟΣ, the name of the city where the piece was coined; at least this must be admitted, if we pay any regard to the au- (3) My supputation here is founded upon the most received opinion, with regard to the commencement of the Parthian æra; which has been placed by Dr. Vaillant and M. L'Abbé de Longueruë, who are herein generally followed, in the year of Rome 498. It happened, however, about twenty-seven years later, according to Sig. Corsini, a gentleman of profound erudition, who at present makes a very considerable figure in the learned world. J. Foy Vaill. in Arsacid. Imper. p. 4. Parisiis, 1728. Ludovic. Du Four de Longueruë, Ab. S. Joan. de Jardo ad Melod. et Sept. Pont. in Therafc. in Annal. Arsacidar. p. 2, 3. Argentorati, 1732. Edvard. Corsin. Cl. Reg. Scholar. Piar. in Acad. Pisan. Humanior. Litterar. Profes. De Minnifar. aliorumq; Armen. Reg. Num. et Arsacid. Epoch. Dissertat. p. 13—29. Liburni, 1754. thority of Dr. Vaillant (4), one of the most celebrated antiquaries of the last age. Nor would it be difficult to produce a (5) sufficient number of similar initial letters, preserved on the anterior faces of ancient coins, in support of such an opinion. 3. As the imperfect characters, or rather traces of characters, on the reverse of my medal, have suffered so greatly from the injuries of time; I shall not take upon me to explain, at least with any degree of certainty, the words they originally formed. However, I hope I may be permitted to observe, that there appears no (6) inconsiderable resemblance between the first, second, and fifth of them, as it should seem, and the Aleph, Gimel, and Mem of the Palmyrenes. As for the confused indistinct sort of mark, that follows the second of these imperfect elements, it can by no means be considered in the light of an alphabetic character, but must have been occasioned by the ravages of time; as the protuberance raised by it above the field of the medal, and the remains of the letters near it, manifestly proves. If what is here advanced should meet with the approbation of the learned, it may perhaps be allowed, that the two first words impressed upon the posterior part of this coin were נמרד מלך, equivalent to the Hebrew המלך הנמרד, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΤΣ ΜΕΓΑΣ, (4) J. Foy Vaill. ubi sup. p. 321, 322, 365, 366. et alib. (5) Vid. Hubertum Goltzium, in Insular. Graec. Numism. Tab. vii. Num. 7, 9. et Tab. viii. Num. 4. Wipe, in Nummor. Antiquor. Scrin. Bodleian. recondit. Catal. p. 5. aliquo id genus Scriptor. (6) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. p. 693, 740. or Ο ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ Ο ΜΕΓΑΣ, THE GREAT KING; which would answer with accuracy enough to the words ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ (7) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ, exhibited by the reverses of several Parthian coins, with complete Greek legends upon them. Should the first letter be taken for an Aleph, the term to which it belongs would seem to be rather of the Arabic (8) than either the Hebrew, Chaldee, or Syriac form. Nor can it be conceived strange, if we suppose the piece to have been struck at Vologesia, though the Chaldee or Babylonian dialect must have chiefly (9) prevailed there, that this word should favour something of the Arabic form; as this city, according to (10) Stephanus, as well as Ptolemy, was seated near the Euphrates, at no great distance from (7) De Num. quibusd. Sam. et Phoen. &c. Dissert. p. 53. Oxon. 1750. J. Foy Vaill. ubi sup. p. 145, 241. & alib. (8) Val. Schind. Lex. Pentaglot. p. 1, 75. (9) That the inhabitants of Vologesia enjoyed a flourishing and extensive commerce, when this piece was coined, seems to appear, not only from the situation of that city, which stood at no great distance from the confines of Persia, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, a country limited by the Euphrates on the side of Syria, but likewise from the tenth of Mr. Dawkins's Greek Palmyrene inscriptions. It may therefore be presumed, that Jews, Persians, or Parthians, Arabs, Syrians, and people of other nations, resorted thither, in considerable numbers, on account of trade. From whence we may conclude, that the vernacular tongue of the Vologesians was not improbably a mixture of Hebrew, Persian, or Parthian, Arabic, Chaldee, and Syriac. Hence it might come to pass, that the two first words of this legend were neither pure Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldee, nor Syriac; but received a tincture from most, if not every one, of those languages, or dialects. Dawk. Inscript. Graec. Palmyren. Inscript. x. Christ. Cellar. Geograph. Antiq. Lib. iii. c. xvi. Philosop. Transact. Vol. xlvi. Tab. xxvii. (10) Stephanus Byzant. De Urbib. Ptol. Geogr. Lib. v. c. 20. the borders of Arabia, particularly that province of it going amongst the Orientals under the denomination of Najd. The conjectures here laid down, I say, upon supposition that I am not mistaken in the forms of these imperfect characters, may perhaps be considered by the learned as not altogether remote from truth. And this is all I desire, as I would have no greater stress laid upon them than what they will naturally bear. 4. But though I am not so sanguine in relation to the mutilated letters just touched upon, I cannot forbear declaring myself strongly inclined to believe, that the four last elements on the reverse of my coin are the very same with some of those that have been preserved by the two Roman Palmyrene inscriptions, and that copied by Mr. Masson from Sig. Pietro della Valle's original papers; all which I have, in the last volume of the (11) Philosophical Transactions, endeavoured to explain. The form of the first of them, unless I am greatly deceived, answers exactly to that of the Lamed which occurs in the second of (12) the Roman Palmyrene inscriptions, and is but little different from that of the same element exhibited by the other. The second and fourth of them at (13) least approach extremely near to the figures of the Ajin and Jod, as they appear in both the Roman Palmyrene inscriptions. And that the third of them is of a form similar to that of the Schin, or Sin, presented to our view by Sig. Pietro della Valle's (14) (11) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. p. 732—757. (12) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. Tab. xxx. (13) Ibid. (14) Ibid. inscription, seen afterwards by some English travellers at Teibe, as well as by the second Roman Palmyrene one, will, I persuade myself, scarce admit of any doubt. Now that the Greeks sometimes represented Ajin, and (15) particularly the Syriac Ajin, or Ae, by their Gamma, is very well known; and that the two powers of the Ajin, one of which was equivalent to that of G, are to this day acknowledged by the Arabs, who still express them by their letters Ain and Gain, the latter of which corresponds with G, is too (16) apparent to stand in need of any kind of proof. From whence we may conclude, that the elements I am now considering, together with the initial letter defaced by the injuries of time, and the vowels which they virtually contained, probably formed the word BOLOGASHI, BOLOGASI, BOLAGASI, or VOLOGESI, varying only in termination from the Greek ΒΟΛΑΓΑΣΙΩΝ, and the Latin VOLOGESIS; the former of which so frequently occurs upon the Parthian coins. 5. That I (1) was a Syriac, Chaldee, or Palmyrene termination of masculine proper names, seems sufficiently to appear from an inscription I have attempted to explain in one of (17) my former letters; and that this termination was sometimes converted into ΗΣ (ES) by the (18) Greeks, has been admitted by Hiller and Bochart, two authors extremely well ver- (15) Boch. Chan. Lib. II. cap. xii. p. 824. Francofurti ad Moen. 1681. (16) Vid. Erpen. Gram. Arab. (17) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. p. 732. (18) Matth. Hiller. Onomast. Sacr. p. 671. Tubingæ, 1706. Boch. Phal. Lib. II. c. xix. p. 126. sed in oriental literature. From whence, without the least violence or torture, we may infer, that the word BOLOGASHI, BOLAGASI, or VOLOGESI, exhibited by the medal before me, the VOLOGESES of Tacitus (19), the ΒΟΥΛΟΓΑΙΣΗΣ of Dio (20), and the ΒΟΛΑΓΑΣΗΣ of the Parthian coins, may be considered as one and the same name. It must also be observed, that the Words VOLOGESUS and ΟΤΟΛΟΓΑΙΣΟΣ sometimes occur, as masculine proper names, in the antient (21) historians. But that these are not so consonant to the true and genuine manner of writing and pronouncing such proper names, may be clearly evinced from the words (22) ARSACES, TIRIDATES, MITHRIDATES, MNASKIRES, PHRAHATES, ORODES, GOTARZES, and others of the same kind, that might, with equal facility, be produced. 6. As the two Roman Palmyrene inscriptions, and that copied by Sig. Pietro della Valle at Teibe, if any regard be due to the preceding remarks, contribute not a little to the illustration of my coin; so this, in its turn, seems, in some measure at least, to support the authority of those inscriptions. For as several of the characters they all exhibit are extremely similar, or rather apparently the same; from thence we may collect, that the latter, as well as the former, of them are genuine and valuable remains of antiquity, and have hitherto been deservedly esteemed as such by the learned. Nay from thence it will --- (21) Tacit. Hist. Lib. iv. c. 5. Dio, Lib. lxiii. p. 719. (22) J. Foy Vaill. in Arsacid. Imper. pass. (19) Tacit. Annal. Lib. xii. p. 338. Parisis, 1684. (20) Dio, Lib. liv. p. 545. farther follow, that the copies of the three above-mentioned inscriptions, published by Mr. Reland and F. Montfaucon, are not very inaccurately taken; and consequently that the elements they contain, though heretofore termed by me Palmyrene, on account of the resemblance between them and the letters inscribed on several of the stones found amongst the ruins of Tadmor, are not strictly of the same form with those that constituted, in certain intervals, the true (23) and proper alphabet of the Palmyrenes. 7. In conformity to the sentiment here laid down, it may be farther observed, that the first Roman Palmyrene inscription seems to have been drawn in some city of Syria, or Irâk, at a considerable distance from Tadmor, and to have been brought from that city to Rome. This opinion, notwithstanding what I formerly intimated, or rather (24) insinuated only, to the contrary, upon farther consideration of the matter, and since the discovery of the above-mentioned characters on the reverse of my Parthian coin, I find myself pretty strongly disposed to entertain. Such a notion is not only countenanced by the forms of the letters themselves, as they were cut in the stones, which have preserved them, about the same time that two of Mr. Dawkins's inscriptions were (25) drawn out at Tadmor, but likewise by the word ΠΑΑΜΥΡΗΝΟC, in the correspondent Greek inscription. For as all these bear nearly the same date, (23) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. p. 693. (24) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. p. 738, 739. (25) Ibid. p. 738. Dawk. Marm. Palmyren. Inscrip. Palmyren. i, 8. iv, 9. and yet the ducts of the letters they exhibit appear considerably different; it must be allowed, at least in some degree, probable, that they did not originally appertain to the same city: and had the monument, on which the local term ΠΑΛΜΤΡΗΝΟC is inscribed, been first erected at Tadmor, that term might perhaps have been deemed by some superfluous and unnecessary, not to say improper and absurd. With regard to the second Roman Palmyrene inscription, I must beg leave likewise to remark, that the forms of the elements it contains, which have suffered pretty much from the injuries of time, are not precisely the same with those of Mr. Dawkins's letters. From whence I should be induced to conclude, as it is void of a date, that it must either have been the produce of a different age; or, which may perhaps be deemed more probable, that the injuries of time have obliged several of the elements of which it is composed to recede something from their original forms. But, notwithstanding this, that it first appeared either at, or in the neighbourhood of, the city of Tadmor, we have all the reason in the world to believe. For as Tiberius Claudius, who was a foreigner, dedicated the altar, which it adorned, to Malachbelus and the other divinities of Tadmor, who (26) are therein treated as local deities; it had undoubtedly its situation at first either in that metropolis, or some other place in the territories of the Palmyrenes. 8. From the same inscription we may likewise infer, that the Calbites, therein-mentioned, performed (26) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. p. 756. a vow they had made to Malachbelus and the other gods worshipped at Tadmor; and consequently that Malachbelus was the principal deity of the people to which they belonged, as well as of the Palmyrenes. This remark will shake at least, if it will not entirely overturn, the hypothesis proposed to the (27) learned world by Dr. Hyde, viz. that these Calbites were a part of the Kelbians, a (28) small inconsiderable canton seated at present on mount Libanus, and passed over in silence by the antients; who, according to this author, received the denomination of Kelbians from a black dog that they worshipped. Nor is this hypothesis confirmed, or even in the least countenanced, by either Mr. Maundrell, Dr. Shaw, or Dr. Pococke, who lately traversed that part of Syria where this obscure and contemptible clan have their habitations. In confirmation of the latter inference here deduced from this inscription, it appears (29) from the oriental writers, that the tribe of Hamyar, the antient progenitors of the Calbites, chiefly worshipped the sun; though they seem likewise, on certain occasions, to have paid divine honours to an idol named Nafr. The Calbites also, settled at Dawmat al Jandal, themselves adored the heavens, which bear a near relation to the sun, and might possibly have been mistaken by some of the aforeaid (27) Tho. Hyd. Hist. Relig. Veter. Persar. Append. p. 491, 492. Oxon. 1700. (28) D. R. Huntingt. Epist. p. 47. Lond. 1704. (29) Al Zamakhshar. Al Beidawi, Al Jauhar. Al Shahrestân. Vid. etiam Poc. Not. in Spec. Hist. Arab. p. 93, 133, 134. & alib. See also Sale's Prelim. Dis, p. 17, 19. writers writers for that planet, under the form of a man, and gave them the name of *Wadd*. This notion therefore of Dr. Hyde ought to be exploded as a fiction, advanced without any manner of foundation, and not meriting the attention of the learned. 9. That the four complete characters on the reverse of my medal vary something from the forms of the correspondent characters in Mr. Dawkins's Palmyrene inscriptions, is too obvious and apparent a truth to be denied. However, they may also be considered as letters of the Chaldee or Babylonian alphabet, with sufficient propriety, notwithstanding that variation. Nor can it be deemed matter of surprize, that such alphabetic characters should have been impressed on the reverse of this Parthian coin; especially, if it was struck at Vologetia, as there is undoubtedly room enough to suppose. For that this city was seated in Babylonia near the Euphrates, where the Chaldee or Babylonian alphabet prevailed, is abundantly manifest, from what has been already observed (30). 10. In support of what has been here advanced, it may be farther remarked, that the Palmyrene letters were not only used about the time of Vologeses III. in the Parthian territories bordering upon the frontiers of Syria, but likewise in the interior part of Persia itself. This most evidently appears from two inscriptions, in the Palmyrene language and character, with their correspondent Greek ones, still preserved at Nocturestand, Nocta-Rustam, or Naxi-Rustan, near those re- (30) Vid. Steph. Byzant. & Ptol. ubi sup. mains of antiquity generally termed *the ruins of Persepolis*; which have been published both by (31) Sir John Chardin and Dr. Hyde, as well as in the 17th (32) volume of the *Philosophical Transactions*. The Palmyrene inscriptions have either been so inaccurately taken, or so injured by time, that only the two first words of them, יַעֲרָה בֶּן, which in both appear the same, are legible. But these are sufficient, with the assistance of the Greek ones, that have not much better escaped, to point out to us both the language and the character in which they were originally drawn. For the Palmyrene terms are equivalent (33) to *PERSPICVA SPECIES*, CLARA SIMILITVDO, PVRA FIGVRA, THE APPARENT LIKENESS, THE CLEAR RESSEMBLANCE, THE TRUE IMAGE, THE REAL MIEN or PORTRAIT; which by the correspondent Greek words, TOTTO TO ΠΡΟΣΩΠΙΟΝ, the last of which in the first inscription has been miserably deformed, are, with tolerable justice and propriety, expressed. The Greek letters, APZA . . . . CIAωCBACIAΕωN, in the first inscription, clearly present to our view, in Parthian Greek, --- (31) *Voyages de Monsieur Le Chevalier Chardin, en Perse, &c.* Tome Troisieme, p. 119. A Amsterdam, 1711. Hyd. Rel. Vet. Pers. Hist. Append. p. 518, 519. See also *Voyages de Corn. le Bruyn*, Tom. iv. p. 361. (32) *Philosoph. Transact.* Vol. xvii. n. 201. p. 775, 776. (33) Val. Schind. *Lex Pentaglot.* p. 238, 983. Edm. Caft. *Lex. Heptaglot.* p. 422, 2014. such as sometimes occurs upon the (34) Parthian coins, the words ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ, i.e. ARSACIS REGIS REGUM, OF ARSACES THE KING OF KINGS; and consequently give us sufficiently to understand, as they are inscribed on the breast of a horse of stone, cut out of the mountain of black marble at Naxi-Rustan, or, as others say, on the garment of his rider, that they belonged to an equestrian statue of one of the Parthian kings. Now the Omega of the minuscular form, always exhibited here, was never visible on the Parthian coins before the reign of Monneses, which a little preceded that of Vologeses III. if the draughts of those coins given us (35) by Dr. Vaillant may be depended upon. Hence we may conclude, that the Palmyrene inscriptions now before us were probably coeval with Monneses and Vologeses III. and consequently that the Palmyrene alphabetic characters were used at Estakhr, a very antient and considerable city (36) of Fârs, or Persia properly so called, almost contiguous to the aforesaid ruins, that is, in the interior part of Persia itself, about the very time when the piece I am now offering my thoughts upon was coined. 11. From what has been here observed, some of the learned may perhaps be induced to suppose, that the aforesaid stupendous remains of antiquity (34) J. Foy Vaill. in Arsacid. Imper. p. 347. (35) J. Foy Vaill. Arsacid. Imper. (36) Ism. Abu'lfed. apud Gol. in Not. ad Alfragam. p. 113. ut et ipse Gol. ibid. Nafsîr Al Tûsî & Ulugh Beik, in Tabul. Longit. & Latit. Civitat. Ed. Hudf. Oxon. 1711. cannot so properly be deemed the ruins of Persepolis, as those of another city of a later date. For the above-mentioned inscriptions seem evidently to prove, that those ruins belonged to a very superb and magnificent place, which either served for a residence to several of the lower Parthian kings, or at least was greatly favoured, and on certain remarkable occasions visited, by them. Now the antient city of Estakhr, which some (37) take to be the same with Persepolis, though this cannot be strictly true, as that place is allowed to have been destroyed (38) by Alexander the Great, made a considerable figure even after the Parthian (39) times, and extended, without doubt, to the spot occupied by the aforeaid ruins, going at present under the appellation of Shelmanâr, (40) or Shahelmanâr. Nay Estakhr, according to the (41) Persian historians, was the capital of Fârs, or, as they call it, Pârs, that is, Persia, till the royal seat was transferred from thence to Al Madâyen upon the Tigris (42), built by Shabûr, surnamed Dhu'laktâf, or Sapor III. of the house of Sassan, after the Parthian monarchy was dissolved; and (37) Golii Not. ad Alfragan. ubi sup. D'Herbel. Biblioth. orient. art. Estekhar, p. 327. (38) Plutarch. in Alexand. Q. Curt. Lib. v. Arrian. Lib. iii. Diod. Sic. Lib. xvii. Justin. Lib. xi. (39) Gol. & D'Herbel. ubi sup. Greg. Abu'l Faraj, in Hist. Dynast. p. 183. Mirkhond, apud Teixeir. p. 324. En Amberes, 1610. (40) Golii Not. ad Alfragan. p. 113. (41) D'Herbel ubi sup. (42) Idem ibid. * 4 G 2 consequently consequently it must have been, even if we follow them, the principal residence of Monnefes and Vologeses III. as they (43) make the Ashkanians, Ashganians, or Arsacidæ, to have formed the preceding dynasty of the antient Persian kings. This seems to be confirmed, and even rendered incontestable, by the inscriptions just touched upon. The authority therefore of those writers, thus supported, cannot be impugned by the modern geographers, in the point before us; when they assert, perhaps without the least shadow of rational proof, that the city of (44) Al Madâyen was in reality no other than the Cteiphon of the antients. 12. That the second Roman Palmyrene inscription, whose age cannot be determined with any precision, is nevertheless inferior in point of antiquity to the third of those published by Mr. Dawkins, the forms of the letters themselves (45), preserved on the stones that exhibit them, which so greatly resemble the characters appearing on my Parthian coin, seem manifestly to prove. As the third of Mr. Dawkins's Palmyrene inscriptions must therefore be looked upon as a very valuable acquisition to the learned world, I shall here beg leave to propose to the consideration of the Royal Society a new interpretation of the first part of this inscription; though it be not very different from that (43) Khondemir, Al Emîr Yahya Ebn Abd’ollatîf Al Kazwîni, in Lebtârikh, D’Herbel. ubi sup. p. 135. (44) D’Herbel. Biblioth. orient. art. Mudain, p. 525. (45) Philosop. Transact. Vol. xlviii. Tab. xxiv. xxx. which I have already had the honour to submit to the superior judgment of that most learned and illustrious body. I imagine then, that the mutilated term כּוֹנִי (46) might have been originally either כּוֹנִי דֵדֶרְעַנְתָּ, דֵדֶרְעַנְתָּ, or כּוֹנִי פָרָא וְרַעֲנַתָּ, דֵדֶרְעַנְתָּ, דֵדֶרְעַנְתָּ, &c. the latter of which words occurs, in the same sense, on a Palmyrene marble, exhibiting an inscription that I have formerly (47) attempted to explain. If this be admitted, the two first lines must be translated into Latin (48) thus: DONUM HOC est ATQUE ARA QUÆ DEDERUNT (PARAVERUNT, vel DEDICAVERUNT) OMRIBOL SHEMESH (AMRIO'L SHAMS, vel AMRI AL SHAMS) ET ZEBIDA; and into English thus—: THIS IS THE GIFT AND ALTAR WHICH OMRIBOL SHEMESH (AMRIO'L SHAMS, or AMRI AL SHAMS) AND ZEBIDA GAVE (or DEDICATED.) But whether we adopt these new translations, or acquiesce in those formerly given, we cannot, as I apprehend, be very remote from truth; since I make not the least doubt, but all of them are perfectly consonant to the genuine sense and tenor of the inscription. 13. The term כּוֹנִי, RAB, likewise, in the fifth line of Mr. Dawkins's fifth Palmyrene inscription, may perhaps be supposed by some to admit there of (46) Line 3d. (47) Philosop. Transact. Vol. xlviii. p. 732. (48) Vid. Val. Schind. Lex. Pentaglot. p. 460, 1256. Hanoviae, 1612. a signification, a little different from that which I have assigned it, in one of my former letters. It may possibly be presumed to denote AN OFFICER, or MILITARY TRIBUNE, PRÆFECTUS MILITIÆ, vel TRIBUNUS MILITARIS; that being one of the (49) Syriac acceptations of this word. But as the term CTPATIΩTHC, or rather CTPATIΩTHC ΛΕΓ..., in the correspondent Greek inscription, manifestly implies, that the person who erected the statue, in honour of SEPTIMIUS ÆRANES, was a common soldier, or legionary, such as the PILANI were; as this implication seems confirmed by the Palmyrene words מילס אמיטוס, MILES EMERITUS, A VETERAN, or VETERAN SOLDIER; and as the mutilated Greek term ΠΑΤΡΩΝ, apparently denotes this person to have been inferior, in point of station, to the senator SEPTIMIUS ÆRANES; my former versions of Mr. Dawkins's fifth Palmyrene inscription will, I am inclined to flatter myself, be allowed to stand. However, I submit them, as well as every thing here advanced, with the utmost deference, to the determination of the learned. 14. With regard to the last mentioned inscription, I must beg leave farther to remark, that the month Tifri, in which it first appeared, answers to Hyperberetæus; which may be considered either as a Macedonian or a Syro-Macedonian month. This is clearly deducible from Mr. Dawkins's (49) Edm. Castel. Lex. Heptaglot. p. 3493. Lond. 1669. sixth Palmyrene inscription, and the fragments of the Greek one, with which it did originally correspond. Hence we may infer, that the Palmyrenes had only one month denominated Tifri; though the Syrians, or Syro-Chaldeans, applied to two of their months that name. This farther points out to us the conformity between the Palmyrenes and the Jews, who likewise called only one month Tifri, with respect to the names of some of their months; which, in two of my former letters, I have already (50) hinted at. As therefore the Jewish Tifri and the Macedonian Hyperberetæus nearly coincided with the month of September, the same may perhaps likewise be said of the Tifri of the Palmyrenes. Farther, as the æra of Seleucus, according to the best (51) chronologers, commenced on the first of October, our inscription must have been drawn, if the learned should admit what has been suggested here, in the 252d year of CHRIST; but if, with the Syro-Macedonians, we make Hyperberetæus and October the same month, the preceding year. However, the above-mentioned conformity between the Jews and the Palmyrenes seems to render something more probable the former opinion. 15. The Palmyrene letters forming the last word of Mr. Dawkins's tenth inscription may also perhaps, at first sight, be imagined to correspond with the Chaldee or Hebrew elements constituting the word: (50) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. p. 703, 731. (51) Gul. Bevereg. Institut. Chronologicar. p. 237. Londini, 1722. Prid. Connect. Par. I. B. viii. p. 539, 540. Lond. 1720. Jo. Albert. Fabric. Menolog. p. 16, 43, 45. Hamburgi, 1712. CISLEU, the name of one of the (52) Hebrew months. But, upon a very slight examination, it will be found, that such a notion must be in some measure invalidated by the Palmyrene Lamed, than which nothing can be more visible in Mr. Dawkins's copy of this inscription, at the end of that word. I have therefore supposed the Palmyrene name of the month here mentioned to have been PELLUL, or PELELUL, an apparent depravation, or corruption, of the correspondent Greek ΑΠΕΛΑΛΑΙΩ, the Macedonian name of this month. Nor can I at present think any thing, since that name answers so well to the Palmyrene letters, as they appear upon the face of the inscription, more just and natural than such a supposition. 16. However, as the first Palmyrene letter in this word seems rather more to resemble Capb than Pe, as all the other names of months in the Palmyrene characters are Jewish, and as the Macedonian Apellaeus corresponded with the Jewish Cisleu; some of the learned may perhaps be thereby induced to believe, that the true lection is CISLEU, notwithstanding what is intimated to the contrary here. If this be admitted, it must be allowed extremely probable, that the last letter, which is apparently Lamed, was owing either to the inattention of the copier, or the inaccuracy of the inscriber; or else that it was accidentally added to the other elements, after the inscription first appeared. Upon any of which suppositions, we may read the (52) Val. Schind. ubi sup. p. 881. Palmyrene word Cisleu; and consequently assert Apellæus to have been amongst the Palmyrenes (53) a Macedonian, not a Syro-Macedonian, month, as the Macedonian Apellæus only answered to the Jewish Cisleu. From whence we may infer, that the other names of months, which occur in the Greek Palmyrene inscriptions, point out to us Macedonian months; and therefore, that the very learned Cardinal (54) Noris is not to be followed, when he seems to declare himself in favour of the contrary opinion. 17. Before I dismiss the subject I am now upon, it may not be improper to observe, that the two Palmyrene alphabets, lately discovered, will probably enable the learned to decipher various obscure legends, on the reverses of Parthian coins, with which the cabinets of the great and the curious are adorned, consisting of characters hitherto termed unknown, and such as were antiently used either at Tadmor, or other places at no vast distance from that once most opulent and flourishing city. However, that several of those coins have preserved legends drawn up in a character receding something more from that of the Palmyrenes than the letters exhibited by the medal I have been considering, there is not the least reason to doubt; one of them appearing in my small collection, struck, as I apprehend, in the (53) Jo. Albert. Fabric. Menolog. p. 16, 42. Hamburgi, 1712. Edvard. Corfin. Fast. Attic. p. 450. Florentiae, 1747. (54) F. Hen. Noris Veronens. De Epoch. Syromaced. p. 124. Lipsiae, 1696. reign of Monneses, never hitherto published, with such a legend, and a correspondent Greek one, upon it. Nay this is sufficiently manifest from the Parthian coin now in the Bodleian cabinet, of which I herewith send you a draught, that may be entirely depended upon; though the elements it originally bore have been so effaced by time, that the powers of them will probably, even by the most sagacious inquirer, never be discovered. Nor should I be surprized to meet hereafter with medals coined in the principal cities of the Parthian empire, and particularly at Vologesia, with Greek and Palmyrene letters, as well as Greek and the other sort of elements, upon them; since all such different kinds of alphabetic characters may naturally enough be supposed to have been used in those cities. For that a similar practice prevailed at Tyre and Sidon, where coins were not seldom struck, that exhibited both Greek (55) and Phœnician legends, is a point too well known to be controverted amongst the learned. And that an intercourse was kept up, and an extensive commerce carried on, between the citizens of Tadmor, whether Greeks, Syrians, or Romans, and the inhabitants of Vologesia, and therefore probably those of all the most eminent Parthian towns, is indisputably clear from one of the Greek Palmyrene inscriptions (56), which asserts this in very strong terms. Other arguments of great weight might be offered, in (55) J. Foy Vaill. in Seleucidar. Imper. pass. Vid. etiam Erasm. Fröelich, in Annal. Compendiar. Reg. & Rer. Syr. pass. Viennæ Austriae, 1744. (56) Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlviii. Tab. xxvii. Inscript. x. support of what is here advanced, which the limits of this paper oblige me at present to supersede. I shall therefore only beg leave to assure you that I am, with all due sentiments of respect and esteem, Sir, Christ-Church, Oxon. Novr. 27th, 1755. Your most obliged, and most obedient, humble Servant, John Swinton. XC. A Catalogue of the Fifty Plants from Chelsea Garden, presented to the Royal Society, by the worshipful Company of Apothecaries, for the Year 1755, pursuant to the Direction of Sir Hans Sloane, Baronet, Med. Reg. & Soc. Reg. nuper Praeses, by John Wilmer, M.D. clariss. Societatis, Pharmaceut. Lond. Socius, Hort. Chelf. Praefectus & Praelector Botan. Read April 29, 1651 1756. A Bsinthium maritimum Lavendulæ foliis. C. B. P. 139. 1652 Achillea foliis pinnatis, planis, inciso-ferratis, extimis majoribus. Linn. Sp. Plant. 898. Ptarmica