II.1.1 23. Dedication, 575-500 B.C.E.
Monument
Type
Shoulder fragment.
Material
Clay.
Dimensions (cm)
H., W., Th., Diam..
Additional description
Oenochoe, North Ionia, 575-500 B.C.E.
Find place
Berezan.
Find context
Northwestern sector, Area Б, pit 46.
Find circumstances
Found in 1986, excavations of Ya.V. Domansky.
Modern location
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Institution and inventory
The State Hermitage Museum, Б.86.201.
Autopsy
August 2016.
Epigraphic field
Position
Shoulder, exterior. Originally inscribed on complete vessel.
Lettering
Graffito.
Letterheights (cm)
0.5-0.7
Text
Category
Dedication (divine property)
Date
575-500 B.C.E.
Dating criteria
Ceramic date.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/>[- -τ]ō Ἰητρō
</ab>
</div>Apparatus criticus
Translation
(Property) of Ietros.
Commentary
The full inscription may have included the name of Apollo, e.g. [Ἀπολλόνος τ]ō Ἰητρō, but not necessarily. There are several fully preserved early (580-560 B.C.E.) dedications from Olbia that only include the theonym or cultic epiclesis Ietros: Ἰητρ[ō] or Ἰητρ[ῶι] (Rusyaeva 2006, p. 120, no. 7, Pl. 125 (no. 2); Rusyaeva 2010, p. 46, no. 8, pl. 10 (no. 8)); [Ἰ]ητρō (Rusyaeva 2006, p. 120, no. 6, Pl. 125 (no. 5); Rusyaeva 2010, p. 46, no. 7, Pl. 10 (no. 7)).
The cult of Ietros was prominent in several Milesian apoikiai of the Black Sea, including Istros/Istria. Ietros is one of the earliest attested deities worshipped in Borysthenes and Olbia. So far, the cult has not been attested in Miletus itself, and it remains a puzzling fact that several Pontic apoikiai should have adopted a cultic epiclesis not known in the metropolis.
Images
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