II.1.1 62. Incertum (ownership or dedication), ca. 300-275 B.C.E.
Monument
Type
Rim fragment with part of wall.
Material
Clay.
Dimensions (cm)
H., W., Th., Diam..
Additional description
Attica, kantharos, ca. 300-275 B.C.E. (close to Agora XXIX, no. 72).
Find place
Berezan.
Find context
Chance find, south border of the settlement.
Find circumstances
Found in 1970, excavations of K.S. Gorbunova.
Modern location
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Institution and inventory
The State Hermitage Museum, Б.70.171.
Autopsy
August 2016.
Epigraphic field
Position
Lip, exterior. Originally inscribed on complete vessel.
Lettering
Graffito.
Letterheights (cm)
0.7-1.1
Text
Category
Incertum (ownership or dedication?)
Date
Ca. 300-275 B.C.E.
Dating criteria
Ceramic date.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/>[- -]ΡΙ̣Σ Εϝ̣[- -]
</ab>
</div>
Apparatus criticus
Translation
Commentary
Remains of five letters are preserved. From the left break, the remaining strokes suggest a rho, iota or ypslion, and sigma. There appears to be some space between the sigma and epsilon, so I am inclined to take -ΡΙΣ or -ΡΥΣ as word ending, possibly of a personal name. It is hard to be certain whether we have an iota with some extra strokes (doubling of the vertical, which fails to be parallel, with a short horizontal stroke at the apex of this second vertical), or a very narrow ypslion. There are dozens of names in Greek that end in -ρις and -ρυς, so options for restoration are many. The two letters before the right break are epsilon (definitely) and digamma (probably). The two letters follow each other in the Ionic alphabet (and numerically stand for 5 and 6), but another name is also possible.