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Inscribed Tabula Ansata in Raised Relief (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Inscribed tabula ansata in raised relief (from Synagogue, Main Hall): Revetment Inscription, by Memnonios, associated with Torah shrine
- Date
- Late 4th–6th century AD; cf. no. 486 on Synagogue dating., Roman
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- IN63.124
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Inscription
- Inscription Type
- Religious Inscription
- Inscription language
- Greek
- Inscription Text
Κ[ἀ]μὲ τὸ νομοφυ̣λ̣[ά]κ̣ιον ὁ αὐ- τ[ὸς] Μεμνόνιος [ὑ]πὲρ ὑγί- 3 ας [α]ὑτοῦ ἐσσ[κούτλ]ω̣σεν.
- Inscription Translation
- “And the same Memnonios, on account of his health, gave the revetment for me also, the place that protects the Law.”
- Inscription Comment
- Site
- Sardis
- Sector
- Syn
- Trench
- Syn 63
- Locus
- Syn MH Above Floor
- B-Grid Coordinates
- E48 - E49 / N18 - N19.2 *96.75 - 96.40
- Findspot
- Synagogue, Main Hall, perhaps from one of the two “Torah shrines” that stood against the eastern wall of the Main Hall (see Kroll’s commentary).
- Description
Fragments of a tabula ansata of white marble with an inscription in raised relief; two flowers and tendrils are depicted at each end. The three registers of the inscription stand within four horizontal lines. The depressed background had been painted in red.
- Dimensions
- H. ca. 0.20, max. restored W. ca. 1.45, Th. 0.015, H. of letters 0.05.
- Comments
1 κ[ἀ]μέ: correctly SEG 46, 2368 (from S. Fine); κἀμέ, Kroll (Ameling). - The Torah shrine (τὸ νομοφυλάκιον) was decorated with marble inlay; “since the inscription refers to the shrine in the first person and must have been displayed on it, it is clear that the shrine was constructed of masonry” (Kroll).
2 Inscription no. 429 (a) mentioning a Memnonios who was “Father of the city” seems to be of a somewhat more recent date than the present one.
- See Also
- Bibliography
- S. Fine, ed., Sacred Realm… (1996), p. 160, no. 21 (SEG 46, 2368); Kroll, “Inscr. Synagogue,” pp. 40–41, no. 63; and p. 113, fig. 65a–b (Ameling, Inscr. Jud. Or. II, pp. 285–86, no. 129; Kroll and Ameling give further bibliographical references).
- Author
- GP