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Inscribed Tablua Ansata (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Inscribed tabula ansata: Funerary Inscription for Menkrates, by Skopela, his mother, and Skopelianos, his brother
- Date
- Year 240 Sullan era = 155/56 AD (Actian era = 209/10 AD)., Roman
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- NoEx09.001
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Inscription
- Inscription Type
- Funerary Inscription
- Inscription language
- Greek
- Inscription Text
Ἔτους σμ´, μη(νὸς) Περει- τίου θι´· Σκόπελα Με- νεκράτην τὸν υεἱόν, 4 Σκοπελιανὸς τὸν ἀδελ- φὸν καὶ οἱ συνγενεῖς ἐτείμησαν. Χαῖρε.
- Inscription Translation
- “In the year 240, the nineteenth(?) of the month Peritios. Skopela to her son Menekrates, Skopelianos to his brother, and the relatives have given the (last) honor. Farewell!”
- Inscription Comment
- Site
- Poyrazdamları
- Findspot
- East of the Gygaean Lake (exact provenance unknown; H. Malay: from Daldis [Kale]).
- Description
Tabula ansata of white marble.
- Dimensions
- H. 0.47, W. 0.65, Th. 0.11, H. of letters 0.02.
- Comments
1 ἔτους σμ´(bars above ΣΣ instead of above ΣΜ): year 240 is given probably according to the Sullan rather than the Actian era; cf. no. 461, 10 comm.
2 θι´: a bar only above the Θ. It cannot be excluded that only Θ was a cipher (9), and the following letter was a prothetic iota: Ἰσκόπελα. - Σκόπελα (as it seems, unparalleled): the name of Menekrates’s brother, Skopelianos (apparently the same mother’s son), belongs to the same root.
3 υεἱόν: itacistic = υἱόν, cf. l. 1 Περειτ- instead of Περιτ- and l. 6 ἐτείμ- instead of ἐτίμ-.
4 Σκοπελιανός: the rare name (IGBulg III 1302) was borne by the famous sophist from Klazomenai, about 100 AD; Philostr., v. soph. 1, 21. PStrassb. 255 has the hypocoristic form Σκοπελᾶς of names belonging to that root. - ΑΔΕΛ: the E is corrected from Θ. The Λ was written on the molding of the tabula ansata in order to follow syllabic division.
- See Also
- Bibliography
- Unpublished.
- Author
- GP