The Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1854-1855, 1855-04-27
nnPers.nt Archroioxscai Di>esverics IN
e@1 e#%% Slaou. SA fG 3 "a &se

A correspondent of the Journal of Com
merce furnishes the following. Sidon is
city thirty miles south of Beirut. and contains
At present population of about 10, 600 souls
On the 10th of January last some men were
digging for hiddin treasure in an ancient Gem
etry on the plain OF Sidon, called IAsykorut
1ubtoon. when At the depth of abou. tive We
feet below the surface. and near the walls Of
an ancien. edi6ce, they uncovered . sarcopha-
gus. upon the lid of which there is long
Phenician inscription. The lid is of a blue
black marble. intensely hard and taking very
fine polish. The lid is about eight feet long
by four feet wide The upper end is wrough,
into the figure of female head and shoulders,
OF almost giant size. The features are
Egyptian. with large. full almondsshaped eyes
the nose t1attened, and lips remarkable thick.
and somewhat after the negro mould The
whole coun,enance is smiling agreeable, and
expressive, beyond any thing have ever
in the disinterred monuments of Egypt
or Nineveh The headdress resembles that
which appears in Egyptian figures while on
each shoulder there is the head Of some bird
"a dove or pigeon; and the bosom is cover
ed by what appears TO be a sort Of cape. with
a deep fringe. AS oflace.
On the lid below the figure head is the in
scription, consisting of twenty two long lines.
closely written. The letters are in perfect
preservation. and can be read with the utmost
ease and accuracy and the whole forms by far
the longest and most perfect inscription yet
discov cred In this most ancient language and
character. ltappears to be mainly a genealo-
glcal history Of the person buried in the sar-
cophagus, who, as 1t appears. was king of
Sidon. The names of Baai and .Ashterho,A.
the we.l-known gods of the Sidonians. occur
repeatedly in these inscriptions. Some OF the
words are Hebrew, as meiek--kng. while
The forms of some OF the letters are SO much
like those of the ancient Greek, at once 10
indicate the relationship. Letters were an
renfed by the Phenicians. Here we seem TO
see them dropping from their hands in the
first casting. have acopy of the inscription
before me, with tie figure head. taken with
great accuracy by the pen of young Arab.
which could hardly be exceeded by photog-
raphy or hthography. l wish l could for
ward il TO You to use in your paper. IL was
sent to me by friend in Sidon, and is the
more valuable form the fact that. at present,
additional copies can not be taken.
Rev Mr.. Thompson, an intelligent Amer
lean missionary at Sidon. and Rev. DR.. Smith.
of Beirut, who is engaged in translaiing the
whole Bible into Arabic. have mainly master
ed tie inscription. reading line after live with
ing out the evident and satisfactory mean
my, and thus holding intercourse. If not with
men before the Flood at least with those who
lived far back In the neighborhood Of that pc
Rod Copies have also b. en- sent TO some ol
the literati of Europe. from whom. in connec
ton with the labors of the American scholar.
have named, perfect translation NAV sooI
be expected.
In the mean time controversy has arisen
in regard to the ornersAiP OF the discovered
monument. between the English and French
Consuls in this place. Both are extremely
anxious to obtain it at any cost with the inten
ton Of sending it to London or Paris. to be
added to the previous monuments and relic.
which have been gathered there from the
wrecks of all nations and all ages
Mr.. Thompson informs me that. in the pro
cess Of the diggings. the men opened largs
and elegant rooms cut out Of tie solid rock
one of which he had entered and examined. and
which could be hardly less than thirty fee
square by fifteen in height. the ornamented
work of which was of the highest finish.