II.1.1 32. Incertum (ownership or sympotic?) inscription, 1st half VI century B.C.E.
Monument
Type
Rim fragment.
Material
Clay.
Dimensions (cm)
H., W., Th., Diam..
Additional description
North Ionia, kylix cup, 1st half VI century B.C.E.
Find place
Berezan.
Find context
Northwestern sector, Area Б, enclosure 3/III.
Find circumstances
Found in 1991, excavations of Ya.V. Domansky.
Modern location
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Institution and inventory
The State Hermitage Museum, Б.91.162.
Autopsy
August 2016.
Epigraphic field
Position
Lip, exterior. Originally inscribed on complete vessel.
Lettering
Graffito.
Letterheights (cm)
0.6-0.9
Text
Category
Incertum (ownership or sympotic?) inscription
Date
1st half VI century B.C.E.
Dating criteria
Ceramic date.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><unclear reason="damage">Ν</unclear>Ο:ΟΣΑ<unclear reason="damage">Ν</unclear><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
</ab>
</div>
Apparatus criticus
Translation
Commentary
[- -]Ν̣Ο must be the ending, in the Genitive, of a personal name, of which there are too many possibilities, e.g. compound names with the second part -ξενος. The phrase that begins after the dipunct could be read as ὂς ἄν[ - -], signalling the start of a relative clause, for example, similar to the famous Nestor's cup - ℎὸς δ’ ἂ‵ν′ το͂δε πίεσι - "whoever drinks"...(IGASMG III 2; SEG 14:604, 18:481(1), 18:481(2), 19:621(1), 19:621(2), 26:1144(1), 26:11(2), 27:679 37:789, 41:866, 42:919, 45:1454, 46:1327, 47:1488,1, 53:1084). The verb could be different, but it is the formula that is typical for sympotic inscriptions on drinking cups and other sympotic pottery, including the Dipylon oenochoe graffito - ℎὸς νῦν ὀρχεστο͂ν πάντον ἀταλότατα παίζει|το͂ τόδε κλΙμιν(?) vacat (IG I2 919). Overall, I am inlined to see the possible structure of the text as [I am the cup of e.g. Polyxe]nos. Whoever [drinks from me... ]. On this view, this fragmentary graffito would be sympotic.