writing on it; and very good Greek of the period it is,* considering that it came from the pen of an Egyptian born. Here is an exact transcript of it:--
For general convenience in reading, I have here accurately transcribed this inscription into the cursive character:--
The English translation was, as I discovered on further investigation, and as the reader may easily see by comparison, both accurate and elegant.
Besides the uncial writing on the convex side of the sherd at the top, painted in dull red, on what had once been the lip of the amphora, was the cartouche* already mentioned as being on the scarabæus which we had also found in the casket. The hieroglyphics or symbols, however, were reversed, just as though they had been pressed on wax. Whether this was the cartouche of the original Kallikrates,3 or of some Prince or Pharaoh from whom his wife Amenartas was descended, I am not sure, nor can I tell if it was drawn upon the sherd at the same time that the uncial Greek was inscribed, or copied on more recently from the Scarab by some other member of the family. Nor was this all. At the foot of the writing, painted in the same dull red, was the faint outline of a somewhat rude drawing of the head and shoulders of a Sphinx wearing two feathers, symbols of majesty, which, though common enough upon the effigies of sacred bulls and gods, I have never before met with on a Sphinx.
Also on the right-hand side of this surface of the sherd, painted obliquely in red on the space not covered by the uncial, and signed in blue paint, was the following quaint inscription:--
STRANGE THYNGES THER BE.
HOC FECIT
DOROTHEA VINCEY.*
Perfectly bewildered, I turned the relic over. It was covered from top to bottom with notes and signatures in Greek, Latin, and English. The first in uncial Greek was by Tisisthenes, the son to whom the writing was addressed.
It was, `I could not go. Tisisthenes to his son, Kallikrates.' Here it is in fac-simile with its cursive equivalent:--
This Kallikrates (probably, in the Greek fashion, so named after his grandfather) evidently made some attempt to start on the quest, for his entry written in very faint and almost illegible uncial is, `I ceased from my going, the gods being against me. Kallikrates to his son.' Here it is also:--
Between these two ancient writings, the second of which was inscribed upside down and was so faint
and worn that, had it not been for the transcript of it executed by Vincey, I should scarcely have been
able to read it, since, owing to its having been written on that portion of the tile which had, in the course
of ages, undergone the most handling, it was nearly rubbed out--was the bold, modern-looking signature
of one Lionel Vincey, Ætate sua 17,'* which was written thereon, I think, by Leo's grandfather. To the right
of this were the initials `J. B. V.,' and below came a variety of Greek signatures, in uncial and cursive
character, and what appeared to be some carelessly executed* repetitions of the sentence 
(to my son),
showing that the relic was religiously passed on from generation to generation.
The next legible thing after the Greek signatures was the word `ROMAE, A.U.C.,' showing that the family had now migrated to Rome. Unfortunately, however, with the exception of its termination (cvi)* the date of their settlement there is for ever lost, for just where it had been placed a piece of the potsherd is broken away.
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