II.1.1 26. Dedication (divine property, speaking object), 470-450 B.C.E.
Monument
Type
Rim fragment.
Material
Clay.
Dimensions (cm)
H., W., Th., Diam..
Additional description
Attica, stemless cup, 470-450 B.C.E. (close to Agora XII, no. 471).
Find place
Berezan.
Find context
North sector, square X, dugout.
Find circumstances
Found in 1965, excavations of K.S. Gorbunova.
Modern location
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Institution and inventory
The State Hermitage Museum, Б.65.172.
Autopsy
August 2016.
Epigraphic field
Position
Lip, exterior, along rim. Originally inscribed on complete vessel.
Lettering
Graffito.
Letterheights (cm)
0.4-0.8
Text
Category
Dedication (divine property, speaking object)
Date
470-450 B.C.E.
Dating criteria
Ceramic date.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/>Θ̣ιῶι (ἱ)ερή εἰμ[ί - -]
</ab>
</div>Apparatus criticus
Translation
I am sacred to god.
Commentary
The first letter is unclear. There is a funnel that could be ypsilon. Around the funnel, there is a circle. Only theta would make sense: it might be that the cup was held sideways when the cutter set out to inscribe it, and then immediately realised that the text would run along the rim and turned the cup, at the same time "correcting" the direction of the horizontal in theta. θιός is a variant form of θεός in Boeotia, Cyprus, and Crete, and is attested in inscriptions (e.g. Inscr.Cypr. 135.27 H., Leg.Gort. 1.1); it is also attested in inscriptions from Caria. Our case would be earlier than those attested in the mentioned regions. And while the use of the form θιός might suggest a non-Ionian dedicator, the ending of ἱερή tells otherwise.
Images
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