The Archaeological Exploration of Sardis

Inscribed Fragment (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)

Inscribed Fragment (from fills over marble collapse from late antique Spolia Wall): Part of a “Lydian Chronicle”

Monograph 14: Sardis: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, Part II: Finds from 1958 to 2017 (2019) Cat. 577

Date

2nd–3rd century AD?, Roman

Sardis or Museum Inv. No.

S13.070

Material

Marble, Stone

Object Type

Architecture, Inscription

Inscription Type

Varia

Inscription language

Greek

Inscription Text

		-     -     -     -
		      ]Ο̣ΣΗ[
		    ]Α̣ Ἡρακλε̣[-
		ν]εικᾷ Κόρο[ιβος
	4	  ]ΟΝ ἀφ᾿ οὗ ΑΙΙ̣[
		    ]αδες   –   Δ[
		    ]Η̣Σ Σαδυάτ̣[(τ)-
		      ] π̣αῖδες Ι̣[
	8	        ]ν̣ες ἠρξ[-
		        ]ΕΚΑΔΟΥ[
		         ]ΜΟΥΑΛ̣Ι̣[
		         ]Ν̣ΟΑΡΔ̣[
	12	         ]ΨΕΟΣ[
		-     -     -     -

Inscription Translation

“[- - -] Herakle[- - -] Koro[ibos] is victorious [- - -] since [- - -] Sady-
at[(t)es - - -] children [- - -] ruled [- - -] the (aforementioned) Ard[ys (?) - - -].”

Inscription Comment

Site

Sardis

Sector

F55

Trench

F55 13.1

Locus

F55 13.1 Locus 12

B-Grid Coordinates

E778.35 / S182.15 *128.958

Findspot

Field 55, east side of the Wadi B Temple terrace, fills over marble collapse from the late antique Spolia Wall.

Description

Fragment of grayish-white marble; broken on all sides. Shaky, careless script.

Dimensions

H. ca. 0.25, max. W. 0.11, Th. ca. 0.05, H. of letters 0.01–0.011.

Comments

The possible mentions of the Ἡρακλεῖδαι (l. 2?, cf. Herodotus 1 7; there is, of course, also the possibility of a mention of Herakles), of Σαδυάτ(τ)ης (l. 6), and of ὁ Ἄρδ[υς] (l. 11?) point to the early Lydian history. The word “children,” παῖδες (l. 7), and an aorist form of “to rule,” ἄρχειν (l. 8), fit the possible narrative.

The excellent restoration of l. 3: [ν]εικᾷ Κόρο[ιβος] (“Koroibos is victorious”), suggested by M. Ricl (per litt.) takes us to the year 776 BC. It was then that Koroibos from Elis won the stadium race in the first Olympic contest; see L. Moretti, Olympionikai, i vincitori negli antichi agoni olimpici (Memorie dell’Accademia dei Lincei, 1957), p. 59, no. 1.

The occurrence of the phrase ἀφ᾿ οὗ (l. 4, “since”) may suggest that the reported events were presented in the form of a chronicle (cf. the Marmor Parium, IG XII 5, 444); Ricl considers [πρῶτ]ον ἀφ᾿ οὗ αἱ [ - - - Ὀλυμπι]άδες (“for the first time since the - - - Olympic contests”).

For a possible connection with no. 578 see the commentary there.

See Also

Related Artifacts