Unknown Language: message in an 18th-century engraving

[cestmoicatherine]

Hello,
Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. I am a university scholar studying a series of engravings from 1783-4, and one of the pictures has this "hidden message" carved into a wall at Versailles. I cannot identify the language, but some of the symbols suggest Hebrew. You'll find a detail from the illustration attached here.

Thank you again!

 

[amikama]

It's not Hebrew at all. I'm moving this thread to Other Languages.

 

[L'irlandais]

A bit more context would definitely help. Are you sure it is not simply Latin or French mirrored ?

 

[Cagey]

What is the country of origin? What is it an engraving of? What is the figure above it? And so on.

 

[L'irlandais]

The title itself, at the top of the engraving is also mirrored. Perhaps done when the bilingual French/German inscription was added at the bottom.

Exp[é]rience a[ë]rostatique faite Versailles le 19 sept. 1783

Entitled: Exp[é]rience a[ë]rostatique faite Versailles le 19 sept. 1783

etching, hand-colored. | Vue d'optique shows the balloon launched by the Montgolfier brothers ascending from the Palace of Versailles, France, before the royal family, September 19, 1783. A sheep, a duck and a rooster were the only passengers aboard the first balloon flight.

Caption (German): Versuch welcher zu Versailles den 19 Sept. 1783 in Gegenwart Ihrn Majestäten ...
Title from item, printed in reverse.

A word (or two) is (are) obsucred by the gentleman’s coat tails. The next word is main followed by in rvriεvin »
Apart from the symbol epsilon the rest of the characters seem quite french. Perhaps it is meant as an unintelligible text.

 

[Jimbob_Disco]

Is it perhaps Greek? I don’t speak any, but I can spot a fair few similarities in the alphabet.

 

[Määränpää]

In these two pictures, the text seems to differ (not only by being mirrored like the whole picture, but more)

1) Expérience aérostatique faite à Versailles le 19 septembre 1783 en présence de leurs Majestés, de la famille royale et de plus de 130 mille spectateurs par M.rs de Montgolfier.... : [estampe]

2) Expérience Aërostatique Faite à Versailles le 19 Septembre 1783

 

[EricPreacher]

@Jimbob_Disco - I kind of agree here. Looks like Greek alphabets or a form of Greek writing. Definitely Mediterranean / Southern European.

 

[L'irlandais]

_ _ main _ in rvriεvin. Only 3 of the 5 or 6 words are visible.
None of the above words look particularly Greek to me.

Mediterranean Alphabets :: A vast subject.

 

[libertyresreve]

even if that someone can read this picture is terrible, any better picture?