Telegraph of the Bosphorus - Nicolaides - Melchisedec - Dionysius - obelisk interpretation in 1851

[Steven Avery]

Elliott p. 73

In reply to Mr. W.A. Wright’s second question, Dionysius says that Benedict died indeed in 1840, but in April, not in August. In a letter written to the Editor of the Telegraph of the Bosphorus, and published in that journal in December, 1851, a bitter opponent of Simonides, Melchisedec, on the Monastery of Laura, states that the death of Benedict took place in May. In reply to the third question, Dionysius states that Simonides was neither the nephew of Benedict, nor was he in any way related to him. I have before me the Telegraph of the Bosphorus of the 8th of December, 1851, in which is the commencement of the article above alluded to, written by one who has spared no pains in casting discredit upon the pretensions of Simonides to the discovery of the secret library in the Rossico monastery. Yet in this article Benedict is spoken of in the highest terms, and always as the uncle of Simonides. Had there been the smallest doubt about the relationship existing between them, the fact would have been eagerly seized on in this hostile letter of Melchisedec.

 

[Steven Avery]

PBF - various entries

Genius - Nothing

CARM
https://forums.carm.org/threads/the...egarding-sinaiticus.11880/page-27#post-956067

https://forums.carm.org/threads/cod...prisonment-in-berlin-1856.13481/#post-1065972

(‘Telegraph of the Bosphorus’),

( Ό Τηλέγραφος του Βοσπόρου, )
Σιμωνίδη

Anna Mykoniati

Πλαστές Αρχαιότητες (Fake Antiquities)
https://www.academia.edu/6491196/Πλαστές_Αρχαιότητες

Η στενή επαφή του Σιμωνίδη με το «Μουσείο» του Mayer στο Λίβερπουλ και τους παπύρους που είχε στην κατοχή του, είχε ως συνέπεια τα επόμενα χρόνια να στραφεί στην αιγυπτολογία. Η ενασχόλησή του όμως με το πεδίο αυτό και κυρίως με την αποκρυπτογράφηση των ιερογλυφικών πήγαινε αρκετά χρόνια πίσω. Στην εφημερίδα Τηλέγραφος τον Βοσπόρου της 20ής Ιανουάριου 1851 είχε δημοσιεύσει μια περίεργη εξήγηση των ιερογλυφικών ενός οβελίσκου που βρισκόταν στην Κωνσταντινούπολη.214 Ισχυρίστηκε τότε ότι έμαθε να διαβάζει τη γραφή αυτή, αφού μελέτησε επτά αρχαία συγγράμματα πάνω στο θέμα. Ο κόσμος τα άκουγε για πρώτη φορά, όπως και τους συγγραφείς τους. Ανάμεσα τους τα Αιγυπτιακά τον Ευστρατίου Μεμφίτου, τα Ιερογλυφικά τον Ετεοκλέους, το Σύνταγμα αιγυπτιακών μνημείων του Δημοκλέους Παιδαρέτου κ.λπ. Πρότεινε λοιπόν ότι τα σημεία των ιερογλυφικών δεν ήταν ούτε φωνητικά ούτε ιδεογρα-

214 Μάλιστα με τίτλο Ο Βυζαντινός Οβελίσκος κυκλοφόρησε την ίδια χρονιά ως ανεξάρτητο Φυλλάδιο.


Simonides' close contact with Mayer's "Museum" in Liverpool and the papyri in his possession, resulted in his turning to Egyptology in the following years. However, his involvement with this field and especially with the decipherment of hieroglyphics went back several years. In the newspaper Telegraph of the Bosphorus of January 20, 1851, he had published a strange explanation of the hieroglyphics of an obelisk located in Constantinople.214 He claimed then that he learned to read this script after studying seven ancient writings on the subject. People were hearing them for the first time, as were their authors. Among them the Egyptians by Eustratius Memphitos, the Hieroglyphics by Eteocleus, the Constitution of Egyptian monuments by Democleus Peadaretus, etc. He therefore proposed that the hieroglyphic signs were neither phonetic nor ideographic;

214 In fact, under the title The Byzantine Obelisk, it was released the same year as an independent Pamphlet.

CARM
https://forums.carm.org/threads/con...phorus-newspaper-articles.22322/#post-1692482

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CARM

Codex Sinaiticus and Constantine Simonides timeline

Thanks (y) This is excellent information in this book below! A whole chapter (Pages 202 to 217) devoted to Simonides' dealings with Sir Thomas Phillipps. Portrait of an obsession; the life of Sir Thomas Phillipps, the world's greatest book collector (1967) Alan Noel Latimer Munby Chapter 10...

forums.carm.org

Lycourgas - Lykourgos on the obelisk
A. Lykourgos
“The Exposing of the Simonides-Dindorf Uranios :
An Outline of the History of Simonides”

[Or: “Revelations about the Simonades-Dindorfian Uranios:
A Historical Outline of Simonides”]

(Leipzig, 1856)
Chapter III. "A Biographical Sketch"
Page 54-55

[Page 54 (continued)] Not very satisfied with his experiences in Athens, Simonides went to Constantinople at the end of November 1850. Here he first attracted the attention of scholars by a pretense of explaining the hieroglyphs on the obelisk there [See: "The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" newspaper, Issue no. 370, 20th of January, 1851, Pages 2-4]; indeed, he was so fortunate to win the favor of a diplomat very devoted to the study of antiquity, the Sardinian ambassador Baron Tecco, to such an extent that the latter gave him a room in his own embassy palace. But we have no intention of recounting the course of his adventures in Constantinople [Page 55] in detail, especially since they have already been told repeatedly elsewhere, such as in the often-printed essay by the Hanseatic [League] representative Dr. Mordtmann of Constantinople, recently translated (February 23) in the English Athenaeum (first published in the Augsb. Allg. Zeit. 1853, November 29).


Lycurgos says that Simonides "first attracted the attention of scholars [i.e. Baron Teco] by a pretense of explaining the hieroglyphs on the obelisk there".
This fit's perfectly with the January 20th issue of the TOB, in which Simonides letter, dated the 4th of January 1851, is published. It's most likely this article was what attracted peoples attention (including scholars).

Constantine Simonides & Codex Sinaiticus - The Telegraph of the Bosphorus newspaper articles

"The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" deserves it's own thread. Because it comes up several times in Simonides related material (form Hodgkin's to Farmakidis etc) touching on many aspects of the Simonides' affair. Keep on the topic of "The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" and it's articles about...

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See pic and commentary below

 

[Steven Avery]

Melchisedec

p. 73
In reply to Mr. W.A. Wright’s second question, Dionysius says that Benedict died indeed in 1840, but in April, not in August. In a letter written
to the Editor of the Telegraph of the Bosphorus, and published in that journal in December, 1851, a bitter opponent of Simonides, Melchisedec, on the Monastery of Laura, states that the death of Benedict took place in May.
I have before me the Telegraph of the Bosphorus of the 8th of December, 1851, in which is the commencement of the article above alluded to, written by one who has spared no pains in casting discredit upon the pretensions of Simonides to the discovery of the secret library in the
Rossico monastery. Yet in this article Benedict is spoken of in the highest terms, and always as the uncle of Simonides. Had there been the smallest
doubt about the relationship existing between them, the fact would have been eagerly seized on in this hostile letter of Melchisedec.
Dionysius says
(Guardian, Nov. 1,
1863) - «Benedict
belonged to the Rus-
sian monastery, but
he was never the
spiritual head of the
monks».
Melchisedec of Laura
says (Telegraph of
Bosphorus Dec. 8,
1861) - «That
Benedict was
distinguished both as
a scholar and as a
wise man, all those
who knew his
character admit».
iMivrri/iiKiuvi i nuuiu uv iiuo, i mauv uvouij W1IV11I1M.
Such were his antagonists already cited, Melchisedec of Laura and
Efugenius) of Zeropotami; such is this present accuser Dionysious of
Zeropotami. A reference to pp. 116, 117, 139 of the book concerning
Nicolas, Bishop of Methone, published by Simonides in London in 1858,
will show that he attacks the above trio by name.

I hope to be able to discover from some of the Greek newspapers, what
was the position of Benedict at the close of his life; the part which he took
in the re-establishment of the Rossico monastery was one of the points in
dispute between Simonides and Melchisedec.

 

[Steven Avery]

Here are some other Bosphorus references from PBF, mostly from Nicolos Farmakidis, a fine resource!

Nikolos Farmakidis

Simonides himself, in a letter published in the newspaper "Telegraph of Bosphorus" (sheet 384, p. 3), on 28.4.1851, says: "So the tragic murder of the ever-mortal Kapodistrios, along with many others, brought about the destruction of the brilliant Orphanage in Aegina, where the seven hundred children of the Greeks who died and died in the wars were raised and taught, and then I, one of those who were reared there, after my brother Photios, who was born in the same name, went to Nafplio, and from there to Pechas, Hydra, and Syran, we both returned to Syme, seeking our father Simon. And having failed, we returned to our mother's house under the protection of the relatives of our mother Maria, who had been an Ethnikian for many years. After two years of living in Symi and studying with the then teacher of the island, Ierotheos Fotiadis of Symi, who was also a relative of our mother, we separated, and on 18 December 1836, I returned to Syros, and my brother stayed with his relatives".

In the "Telegraph of Bosphorus", No. 404, 15.9.1851, the editor of the newspaper, who is furious with him for having insulted him, writes about him: "...Simonides, as we have recently learned, was a miserable printer and a miserable binder, before he was surrounded by a lion's ransom". The final conclusion is that Constantine was in Syros and Athens between Dec. 1836 and 1839.

Henry Caillot will say, via the "Bosphorus Telegraph" on 13.8.1851, that he should repent and apologize to science.

The invention308 of finding the library is very well thought out. It first appeared in Athens and then worked out more and more through the years. The final version is that of "Telegraph of the Bosphorus", April 1851. The same is the case with the list of finds - manuscripts. The first is that of Elyros in the "Kefalonian" and the second is that to the Russians. They have minor differences, but they are very profound in the knowledge they contain and very well aimed for his purposes.

VI. 6. Simonides' study of the Egyptian column 238

The study that he makes for the description of the columns of the Hippodrome, as he tells us, he copied it from pages 74-77 of the book "CONSTANTINIA OLD AND NEVER AGAIN, THE DESCRIPTION OF CONSTANTINOPOLIS", Compiled by ANDROS PHILOLOGIST AND PHILARCHIOLOGIST (CONSTANTIN I ex-Patriarch) in 1844, who in turn copied Peter Gillios (lat: Petrus Gyllius; French: Pierre Gilles, 1490-1555), a French traveller, surveyor and translator, who was in Constantinople between 1544 and 1547 as an envoy of King Francis I of France for the discovery and study of ancient manuscripts. C-
During his stay there he discovered a manuscript of the geographical work of Dionysius of Byzantium from the 2nd century AD, whose text he translated into Latin, while during the same period he also compiled a topographical study of the city and a description of the Bosphorus. "De Constantinopoleos topographia libri IV, pp. 120-127.

Who Knew About the Athos Manuscript?

Markos and Dorotheos and Joasaph salute thee; they are going to-morrow to Jerusalem, and thence to Damascus. I copied exactly, and presentcd my work to one of my teachers, Gregorius Constantas, on his birthday. He accepted them most kindly, kissed me many times, called me young Stelokopes, and made me a present of books, especially of those which he had published in Vienna, one of which, The Letters of Synesius, was issued in 1792. 1 have preserved it carefully till now, and it contains the following presentation note:—‘To Constantine Simonides, the young Stelokopes, good and honourable youth, obedient, most studious and skilful copyist of the Antiquities of Aegina, this book is presented as a gift by his master Gregorius Constantas, Aegina, the year of salvation 1832, January 31st.'
“ I was also called the golden caligraphic pen, because I transcribed the rules of the college at Aegina in golden letters, and ornamented them with some devices. I also wrote caligraphic exercises for the instruction of my college companions; not only this, but on the death of Charilaos, our teacher of caligraphy, I succeeded him with the approbation of the directors of the college, although still very young. I also transcribed the Olynthiacs of Demosthenes in ancient characters, and declaimed them successfully at the public examinations, for which I was designated Demosthenic Rhyme, by Philetairos, Professor of Literature. I was also called Euclid's Compasses by Rhega, Professor of Mathematics, an embodied Genius by my uncle, an extraordinary Phenomenon by the Patriarch Constantius, Cheirographodephet by the Editors of the Telegraphs of the Bosphorus, Chalkenteros by the Messenger of the Byzantines, Indefatigable mind and pen by my companions, Lynceus by Dindorf, Hand of Daedalus by the Editors of the Athena, published at Athens, and by many others of whom it is needless to speak at present. Alexander V. Humboldt named me * a living enigma and indissoluble Gordian knot,* as C. Stewart, the journals— the Dial, January 17, 1862, and hath Chronicle, March 13, 1862, report.

 

[Steven Avery]

Periplus

The periplus of Hannon [ed. and tr. by K. Simonides.].

books.google.com

 

[Steven Avery]

p. 60

 

[Steven Avery]

This is likely the Byzantine Obelisk.

Obelisk of Theodosius
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk_of_Theodosius

 

[Steven Avery]

Constantine Simonides & Codex Sinaiticus - The Telegraph of the Bosphorus newspaper articles

"The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" deserves it's own thread. Because it comes up several times in Simonides related material (form Hodgkin's to Farmakidis etc) touching on many aspects of the Simonides' affair. Keep on the topic of "The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" and it's articles about...

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The Telegraph of the Bosphorus
Issue no. 370, 20th of January, 1851

Page 2
First Column
Subheading: PHILOLOGICAL

Google Translated - with very slight modifications (Date 01/01/2025)

"The renowned manuscript collector K. K. Simonides, who was in Constantinople, addressed to us [= a letter?] the following archaeological dissertation on the Obelisk in the Hippodrome. We do not doubt that the readers of the Telegraph will gladly pass it by as curious in many ways, and among them there will also be some competent judges of the matters involved. We publish it simply without responsibility, nor having any authority over such matters, not criticizing K. Simonides, perhaps saying something right. It is only forgiven, we think, to express our wishes for the unpublished publication of one and if he mentions manuscripts since it greatly interests the man's reputation.

Mr. Simonides, denying the systems of the European Hieroglyphologists as ideologies, opposes his own explanation, based on the interpretations of ancient authors, of which he has, as he says, the manuscripts. Do these manuscripts exist or not? Mr. Simonides would not dare to publicly declare a complete lie; they exist, we assume. But of what value they are, and to what extent they are genuine, it is not enough, we think, for the judgment of one person alone, whether Simonides wanted to be this one, or someone else. The opinion of many must agree on the same thing, so that the matter does not give rise to suspicion of fraud, and the joy in finding it immediately fills him with boasting. Mr. Simonides certainly received these things on me, and by (κηδόμενος) cheating [= *a swear word* "cheating" is a softened translation*] himself and the public, he shall not deserve to have the friends of the ancients as a multitude of flatterers and gossips.

As if, the thesis of C. Simonides, as we said before, is very curious, and is worth publishing. It shows a great imagination of the compiler, it shows a competent knowledge of the subject matter, it shows the greatest zeal for our times, and this alone is enough to justify the man against all insinuations and slander.

[Simonides article]

The Byzantine Obelisk.

[Simonides begins, saying]:

"Having passed the time of the gates of Athens, I saw Byzantium again after four whole years, and first, as soon as we had docked, I turned my ecstatic eyes towards the magnificent, infamous temple of the Divine Wisdom, the eponymous one of that Jerusalem, on the outskirts of the Kerats..."

[Etc etc etc. Simonides finishes with]:

"In Constantinople,
[In the month] of January, [the] 4[th].
CONSTANTINE SIMONIDES."

We can now trace what Simonides' says is his timeline, (i.e. with the caveat of the always dubious "Simonides sez" untrustworthy provenance).
According to him, he's "in Constantinople" on the January the 4th, 1851.

 

[Steven Avery]

Constantine Simonides & Codex Sinaiticus - The Telegraph of the Bosphorus newspaper articles

"The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" deserves it's own thread. Because it comes up several times in Simonides related material (form Hodgkin's to Farmakidis etc) touching on many aspects of the Simonides' affair. Keep on the topic of "The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" and it's articles about...

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Help to decipher Simonides' decipherment

Editor comments leading into Simonides' pseudo-scientific (fake, non-existent, manuscript based = remember that) quackery about the Hippodrome Obelisk.

Page 3

Page 4

 

[Steven Avery]

Constantine Simonides & Codex Sinaiticus - The Telegraph of the Bosphorus newspaper articles

"The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" deserves it's own thread. Because it comes up several times in Simonides related material (form Hodgkin's to Farmakidis etc) touching on many aspects of the Simonides' affair. Keep on the topic of "The Telegraph of the Bosphorus" and it's articles about...

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Simonides' facsimile of the Obelisk with his telltale artwork easily recognizable.



The Telegraph of the Bosphorus
Issue no. 370, 20th of January, 1851
Subheading: PHILOLOGICAL

Page 4
Middle of the Pages Text