Note 562 — Chapter IV · Egypt

Hogarth’s publication of the additional inscriptions found in 1903 is still more deficient. Edgar’s account of those found in 1899 is better, though by no means adequate. Of 108 probable dedications (some are too fragmentary to be certain), 48 are on vases (black glaze, black figure, red figure) that cannot have been made before the reign of Amasis, 33 are on cups of types that certainly lasted into his reign, 6 on Naukratite fragments (phase not stated), 2 on (late) Milesian. The rest are on fabrics difficult to date from the meagre descriptions. Unfortunately this collection is not typical. It is to be regretted that Edgar thought it “unnecessary to state the provenance of each separate inscription” (B.S.A. V. p. 53). Sixteen have dedications to the gods of the Greeks, and only two to Apollo. We may conclude that a large percentage come from the Hellenium and are therefore after 570. But this does not prove a late date for graffiti generally. Of the sixteen dedications to the gods of the Greeks fifteen are on black figure or black glaze vases: the other is on one of the 33 cups mentioned above. This fact suggests that the dedications generally could have been dated from the vases they are inscribed on if the data had been made available, and that Gardner was fairly right in his main conclusion although wrong in his method of reaching it. Of the Milesian fragments one has a dedication to Apollo, of the Naukratite two (both from the old Southern “Temenos”) are to Aphrodite. It is significant that among the finds of the reign of Amasis “the early local pottery was disappointingly scarce” (B.S.A. V. p. 57). It is surprising that the excavators did not draw the obvious conclusion.