Inscribed Roof-Shaped Cinerarium Lid: Funerary Inscription for Apollonios, son of Alexandros

Date
Before 9 BC? (Herrmann, but see below l. 1 comm.)., Hellenistic or Roman
Museum
Manisa, Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum, 6500
Museum Inventory No.
6500
Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
Manisa 6500
Material
Marble, Stone
Object Type
Cinerarium Lid, Inscription
Inscription Type
Funerary Inscription
Inscription language
Greek
Inscription Text
		Ἐπὶ Μόχλωνος, μηνὸς Δίου ιγ´·
		Ἀπολ‹λ›ώνιος Ἀλεξάνδρου
		ἐτῶν vvv Β̣ΕΑΥ̣[ . . . . . ]ΚΙΤ
Inscription Translation
“In the year when Mochlon held office, on the thirteenth day of the month Dios, (died) Apollonios, son of Alexandros, aged - - -.”
Inscription Comment
Site
Sardis
Findspot
From a Roman tomb near Sardis, the same place as no. 594.
Description

Roof-shaped cinerarium lid of marble.

Dimensions
H. 0.07, W. 0.47, Th. 0.37, H. of letters 0.02.
Comments

1 Μόχλων: “est l’homme au verrou, μόχλος,” L. Robert, Et. épig. philol., pp. 153–56, who deals with the following second names borne by Sardians: the Sardian orator Διόδωρος Ζωνᾶς, “un surnom ayant rapport à sa ceinture” (Strabo 13, 4, 9 [p. 628]); Βόρων (Sardis VII 1, no. 5, 13): “c’est un surnom formé sur βορός, [“gluttonous,” LSJ s.v. (A)], en -ων comme il est normal”; Κυαμᾶς (Sardis VII 1, no. 5, 6): “c’est ‘l’homme à la fève’ ou ‘aux fèves’”; Κόντος (Sardis VII 1, no. 5, 7), from κοντός, “short”; Παταγᾶς (Sardis VII 1, no. 8, 53), “formé sur πάταγος, ‘bruit.’”

After the calendar reform of 9 BC the month Δῖος was replaced by Καῖσαρ, but it continued to be used also later; see P. Thonemann, ZPE 196 (2015), p. 133; cf., e.g., nos. 461, 463, and 666.

2 Ἀπολ‹λ›ώνιος: -ΛΑΩΝΙΟC, the stone; the mason had corrected the lunate sigma from an O (H. W. Pleket, SEG). - On the probable relationship with the deceased person of no. 596, see the commentary there on ll. 2–4; see also no. 594, 3 comm.

3 The letters after ἐτῶν (here given after my reading from the photograph) are unclear. K EXAI vac. KT instead of intended κε´· χαῖρε, edd. prr.

See Also
Bibliography
Malay, Manisa Museum, p. 130, no. 442 (no text). - H. Dedeoğlu and H. Malay, Arkeoloji Dergisi 1 (1991 = Erol Atalay Memorial), p. 115, no. 3, pl. XXVIII, fig. 3 (SEG 41, 1024; Herrmann, ms.).
Author
GP