I 44. Tyras.Incertum, 166 C.E.

Monument

Type

Panel. 

Material

Marble, white. 

Dimensions (cm)

H.21.1, W.17.3, Th.10.4.

Additional description

The front and back are polished, the other faces are broken off. 

Place of Origin

Tyras. 

Find place

Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. 

Find context

Northeast area of Akkerman, outside the fortress. 

Find circumstances

Found in 1867, during construction works on the shore of the Dniester estuary. 

Modern location

Odessa. 

Institution and inventory

Odessa Archaeological Museum, 50504. 

Autopsy

A.I. Ivantchik, August 2006 

Epigraphic field

Position

On the front. Broken off on all sides. H.18.8, W.15.6

Lettering

Deeply and neatly cut, beautiful letters with small serifs. Ligatures, word divisions in the shape of a triangle. Alpha with straight crossbar. 

Letterheights (cm)

3.5

Text

Category

Incertum. 

Date

166 C.E. 

Dating criteria

Explicit date, palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Kondakov1876, 23; 2. Latyshev1890, 123-124, № 3; 2.1. IOSPE IV, 6; 2.2. IOSPE I2, 14. 

Edition

[---]
[---]ΔΕ.[---]
[---] Ω̣ΝΚΑΥ̣[---]
[---]Ρ̣ΟΙΣΚΑ[---]
[--- ἐ]ν̣ τῷ̣ • ι[ρ]´ [• ἔτει---]
[---]

Diplomatic

[---]
[---]ΔΕ·[---]
[---].ΝΚΑ.[---]
[---].ΟΙΣΚΑ[---]
[---.].Τ.•Ι[......---]
[---]

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      		<lb n="0"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="line"/>
      		<lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>ΔΕ</orig><gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
      		<lb n="2"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
            <orig><unclear>Ω</unclear>ΝΚΑ<unclear>Υ</unclear></orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
      		<lb n="3"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig><unclear>Ρ</unclear>ΟΙΣΚΑ</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
      		<lb n="4"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
            <supplied reason="lost">ἐ</supplied><unclear>ν</unclear> 
      τ<unclear>ῷ</unclear> <g ref="#stop"/>
      <num value="110">ι<supplied reason="lost">ρ</supplied></num> 
      <supplied reason="lost"><g ref="#stop"/> ἔτει</supplied><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
      		<lb n="4a"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="line"/>
   </ab>
   </div>
 
Apparatus criticus

1: ΔΕKondakov; ΔΕ.Latyshev
2: ΩΝΚΑKondakov; ΩΝΚΑLatyshev ΝΚ in ligatura
3: ΟΙΣΚΑKondakov; ΟΙΣΚΑLatyshev
4: ΙΤΩΙKondakov; suppl.Latyshev

Translation

Not attempted.

 

Commentary

The monument was originally in the collection of the University of Novorossiysk, where it was studied by Latyshev in 1883. Kondakov informs us about the place and circumstances of the find.

At the end of line 2: the bottom of a vertical stroke and a left end of a horizontal, which was a decorative crossbar, allowing us to restore an ypsilon. The opening of line 3 preserves a curving stroke, which belonged either to a rho or, less likely, beta.

The inscription resists restoration, except for the last line, which contains a dating formula, apparently, according to the local era of Tyras. Only the first letter of the date, an iota designating the numeral 10, is preserved. Theoretically, we could restore ιρ или ισ, that is, year 110 or 210. The similiarity of the script to that of I 2, dated to 125 C.E., argues in favour of the former option. Our date is therefore 166 C.E. It is a reasonable guess that the inscription was of public nature, e.g. an honorific decree.

 

Images

 

(cc)© 2017 Askold Ivantchik (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to theEpiDoc schema.)