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Sarcophagus and lid. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College) -
Inscriptions on chest of sarcophagus. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Inscribed Fragmentary Sarcophagus: Funerary Inscriptions for Claudius Antonius Hermon and Aurelia Thaleia
- Date
- Probably after 212 AD (based on the name Aurelia Thaleia), Roman
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- S07.002
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Sculpture, Sarcophagus, Inscription
- Inscription Type
- Funerary Inscription
- Inscription language
- Greek
- Sculpture Type
- Sarcophagus
- Inscription Text
Κλ(αυδίου) Ἀντ(ωνίου) Ἕρμωνος καὶ Αὐρ(ηλίας) Θαλείας.
- Inscription Translation
- “(Sarcophagus) of Cl(audius) Ant(onius) Hermon and Aur(elia) Thaleia.”
- Inscription Comment
- Site
- Sardis
- Sector
- Nec
- Trench
- Tomb 07.1
- Locus
- Tomb 07.1 Locus 11
- Findspot
- Tomb 07.1.
- Description
Fragmentary body of a sarcophagus. The inscription (two parts from two different periods, see below) is on the bottom molding.
- Dimensions
- W. 2.26, Th. 1.03, H. of letters [left] 0.03–0.035, [center] 0.035.
- Comments
Signs of distinction: ΚΛ·ΑΝΤ·ΕΡΜΩΝΟΣ vvvvv ΚΑΙ (leaf) ΑΥΡ (leaf) ΘΑΛΕΙΑΣ (leaf).
The name Ἕρμων is derived from the Hermos River (Gediz Çay) on the banks of which Sardis is located; see IGSK 23 (Smyrna), no. 49 comm.
On the two parts of the inscription and their relative dates: above the deceased man’s name (which ends in a squared lunate sigma) there are his(?) feet shown in relief (the upper part is destroyed). His wife’s name (which ends in a four-bar sigma and whose letters are a bit higher than those of the preceding part), according to my opinion, was probably added later and follows, separated by a vacat of ca. five letters. Differently, A. Alexandridis (p. 272, no. 72): “Hermon seems to have been interred later than his wife. The less deep and less precise lettering of his name suggests that the chiseler had no easy access to the surface as the sarcophagus was already in place.”
- See Also
- Bibliography
- Mentioned by C. H. Greenewalt, jr., KST 30, 4 (2009), pp. 193–94 (SEG 59, 1398; no Greek text). A. Alexandridis, “Funerary Containers from Roman Sardis,” in Sculpture in Roman Asia, ed. M. Aurenhammer (2018), pp. 272–73. - Text unpublished.
- Author
- GP