II.1.1 68. Message (?), 375-350 B.C.E.
Monument
Type
Rim fragment.
Material
Clay.
Dimensions (cm)
H., W.4.3, Th., Diam..
Additional description
BG, Attica, cup-skyphos, 375-350 B.C.E. (close to Agora XII, nos. 605-608).
Find place
Berezan.
Find context
Area Г, grid squares 13, cavity in the ground east of Pit 11.
Find circumstances
Found in 1964, excavations of K.S. Gorbunova.
Modern location
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Institution and inventory
The State Hermitage Museum, Б.64.164.
Autopsy
August 2016.
Epigraphic field 1
Position
Lip, exterior, at least three lines.
Lettering
Graffito.
Letterheights (cm)
Unknown.
Text 1
Category
Message(?)
Date
375-350 B.C.E.
Dating criteria
Ceramic date.
<div type="textpart" subtype="inscription" n="1">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>Ο̣ΛΩΣΙ̣<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="2"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>.ΛΩΣΑ̣<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="3"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>Σ̣ vacat
</ab>
</div>
Apparatus criticus
Translation
Commentary
There are three lines of text and underneath them a possible drawing (prow of a ship?). In lines 1 and 2, the same sequence of letters ΛΩΣ appears, but it is not necessarily the same word, as the letters preceding lambda appear to differ.
Line 1. A round letter is clear before lambda, which is likely an omicron. The final letter at the right break is possibly an iota, but can be the left vertical of eta or even nu or mu. This is possible if the preceding word ended with -ΟΛΩΣ, an adverbial(?) form, and the following letter was the beginning of another word.
Line 2. Before lambda, there is a straight stroke projecting upwards from the the break, but at a slight angle, so that ypsilon is posisble to consider. Noteworthy is the difference in the shapes of omega (with rounded loop in line 1 and square loop in line 2), which appear one below the other. A short fragment of a straight stroke at the right break might be an iota, but does appear to be leaning away from sigma and so could belong to any letter with an outward diagonal hasta, e.g. alpha, lambda, nu, or mu.
Line 3. The remaining strokes (meetting at an angle) are consistent with the shape of sigma in lines 1 and 2. There is empty space to the right and up to the break, but right below is another geometric drawn shape.
Line 4. It is not possible to discern letters, but the geometric shape resemles ship's prow. If there was a schematic drawing in this space, what looks like a sigma in line 3 might be part of that drawing.
Epigraphic field 2
Position
Lip, interior, at least 3 lines.
Lettering
Graffito.
Text 2
Category
Incertum
Date
375-350 B.C.E.
Dating criteria
Ceramic date.
<div type="textpart" subtype="inscription" n="2">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>Κ̣ΑΤΙ ΕΟ<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="2"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>.Ι ΣΗ̣<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
</ab>
</div>
Apparatus criticus
Translation
Commentary
It is harder to say how many lines of text we have on this side. There are definitely two, whereas the characters in the third and fourth(?) lines may instead be connected and part of a drawing. It is, however, possible to suggest alphabetic interpretations of strokes in potential lines 3 and 4.
Line 1. [- -]Κ̣ΑΤΙ ΕΟ[- -] A possible restoration could be ϝίκατι, "twenty feet broad", a dialectal variant of twenty, attested in Elis, Boeotia, Epidauria. The following sequence of an epsilon and an apparent omicron, although underneath omicron there is another small lunate mark.
Line 2. At the left break, a top tip of a diagonal suggests ypsilon, chi, or sigma. To the right, a simple vertical is clear. After a vacat, sigma is followed by an eta(?). The latter is written over by another letter(?), possibly a pi, which may be allocated to a potential Line 3. A character to the left of "pi" might not be a letter, so whether there is a third or fourth line of text is unclear.