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Mosaic Inscription in Octagonal Frame (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Mosaic Inscription in octagonal frame (from Synagogue, Main Hall, Bay 3): Inscription marking the mosaicking of the Synagogue, by Aurelios Alexandros Anatolios
- Date
- 270 AD or thereafter (date of coins from beneath the mosaic); cf. no. 486 on Synagogue dating., Roman
- Museum
- Manisa, Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum
- Museum Inventory No.
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- IN66.019
- Material
- Mosaic
- Object Type
- Mosaic, Inscription
- Inscription Type
- Religious Inscription
- Inscription language
- Greek
- Inscription Text
Αὐρ. Ἀλέ- ξ̣[αν]δ̣ρος ὁ κα[ὶ Ἀν]ατόλι- 4 ο[ς, Σα]ρδ. βου- λ. τ̣[ὸ τρί]τον διαχώρημα ἐ- κέντησεν.
- Inscription Translation
- “Aur(elios) Alexandros, also called Anatolios, citizen of Sardis, councilor, mosaicked the third bay.”
- Inscription Comment
- Site
- Sardis
- Sector
- Syn
- Trench
- Syn W 66
- Locus
- Syn MH Pavement
- B-Grid Coordinates
- E58.8 / N9.7
- Findspot
- Synagogue, Main Hall, Bay 3.
- Description
Mosaic inscription in an octagonal frame.
- Dimensions
- H. 0.69, W. 0.69, H. of letters 0.055–0.075.
- Comments
Marks of abbreviation after Αὐρ., Σαρδ., and βουλ.
4–5 Abbreviations: [Σα]ρδ(ιανός) βουλ(ευτής). In his commentary on no. 524, L. Robert notes that with this formula, which occurs repeatedly, the members of the Jewish community underline their Sardian citizenship; Scheibelreiter translates “curialis aus Sardeis.” Outside the Jewish context the formula occurs in no. 676, 2–4.
5–6 “The mosaic was divided into seven zones or bays, each called διαχώρημα; they were originally counted from the apse (west) to entrance (east)” (Hanfmann, p. 26). The alternatives [πρῶ]τον or [πέμπ]τον in l. 5 (the latter is considered as possible by Scheibelreiter; but Kroll believes it “cannot be accommodated in the space available”) seem to be overruled by the position of the mosaic.
- See Also
- Bibliography
- G. M. A. Hanfmann, BASOR 187 (1967), pp. 29, 36, 38, figs. 46, 52 (J. and L. Robert, BE 1968, 478, p. 517); Kroll, “Inscr. Synagogue,” pp. 16–17, no. 3, with further references; and p. 61, fig. 6 (Ameling, Inscr. Jud. Or. II, pp. 234–35, no. 62, with further references; SEG 51, 1628; AE 2001, 1873; Scheibelreiter, Stifterinschriften, pp. 40–42, no. 8).
- Author
- GP