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[6] On most of the figures on the chest there are inscriptions, written in the ancient characters. In some cases the letters read straight on, but in others the form of the writing is what the Greeks call bustrophedon.1 It is like this: at the end of the line the second line turns back, as runners do when running the double race. Moreover the inscriptions on the chest are written in winding characters difficult to decipher. Beginning our survey at the bottom we see in the first space of the chest the following scenes.

1 That is, “as oxen turn when ploughing.” The writing went from left to right and from right to left alternately.

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  • Commentary references to this page (1):
    • W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus, 5.58
  • Cross-references to this page (1):
    • Raphael Kühner, Friedrich Blass, Ausführliche Grammatik der Griechischen Sprache, KG 1.1.1
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (2):
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