text probably copied by a drunk official

[mckha489]

I wondered if “etope”” was slope.

[arthurk]

I wondered if “etope”” was slope.

I did too for a time, but the tall letter is crossed like a 't'.

[mckha489]

I wondered if “etope”” was slope.

I did too for a time, but the tall letter is crossed like a 't'.

Yes - but this is a document that has been copied from another document. So it could be a mistranscription. Slope makes sense if you consider the description of viewing petrifried wood which could be on a slope of a river bank for instance.

[JanSeifert]

Thank you for your suggestions so far. I thought I should give you a chance to get more context. I usually share nothing in such a preliminary state but for the sake of getting through I post here the two pages in question and my transliterations.

first page 126

[JanSeifert]

page 127

[JanSeifert]

the transliteration file is not immediately shown (at least not on my computer)

[JanSeifert]

I wondered if “etope”” was slope.

I do not see a »slope« fitting in the sentence here:
»…the first impression left upon the mind in viewing the stope certainly
is that the change has occured Since the blocks were fixed in their present
position,…«

From the context I would go for stone, as the topic is the petrified pieces of wood. »blocks« was used to not repeat the word stone, I'd say.

J.

[JanSeifert]

From the first one:

"bear" - I can make better sense of what follows if it's "hear", but as a misspelling of "here".

I like your suggestion there. Also: one has to keep in mind, that the punctuation is more or less missing. In that way a full stop behind »bear« is possible too.

So the sentence could go even in the way of: »…by which this conversion of wood into stone <verb> here[.] the first impression left upon the mind…«

J.

[arthurk]

From the first one:

"bear" - I can make better sense of what follows if it's "hear", but as a misspelling of "here".

I like your suggestion there. Also: one has to keep in mind, that the punctuation is more or less missing. In that way a full stop behind »bear« is possible too.

So the sentence could go even in the way of: »…by which this conversion of wood into stone <verb> here[.] the first impression left upon the mind…«

Another thought, which involves a gross misreading, is that 'scites bear' is actually 'takes place'. (s=t, ci=a, t=k; b=p, e=l, r=ce)

One of these confusions in a word might be easily spotted, but here it would mean having a whole lot of them all together. I wonder...?