Dedication to Zeus Soter and probably other Gods Soteres

Bibliography

Anti, Taccuini inediti Anti, C., Taccuini inediti - see in bibliography , VI.20 and Oliverio, Taccuini inediti Oliverio, G., Taccuini inediti - see in bibliography , VIII.53, whence SECir Oliverio, G., Pugliese-Carratelli, G., Morelli, D., 1961-1962, Supplemento Epigrafico Cirenaico, Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane in Oriente (ASAA)39-40 (= n.s. 23-24), 219-375 - see in bibliography , 155 (no image) for section a only; Gasperini, 1965 Gasperini, L., 1965, in S. Stucchi, L'agorà di Cirene. I. I lati Nord ed Est della platea inferiore, Monografie di archeologia libica7, Roma, passim [= , Iscrizioni greche e latine dell'agorà di Cirene, 1-53] - see in bibliography , p. 219 (quick mention of section b) ; Laronde, 1987 Laronde, A., 1987, Cyrène et la Libye hellénistique. Libykai historiai de l’époque républicaine au principat d’Auguste, Paris - see in bibliography , pp. 175 and 366-367, whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 38.1887 for the whole monument.

Text

Apparatus

a (Edited as on the recomposed monument) : SECir Oliverio, G., Pugliese-Carratelli, G., Morelli, D., 1961-1962, Supplemento Epigrafico Cirenaico, Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane in Oriente (ASAA)39-40 (= n.s. 23-24), 219-375 - see in bibliography   | 〚«IRCyr C.122»〛 (vac.) Λιβύα | Κυράνα Ἀπόλλων (placement of the blocks drawn from Oliverio's and Anti's notes)

b (Edited as on the recomposed monument) : (if only fragment iii of the recomposed monument would be moved to the right, the reading would be:) [.........] [θε]οῖς : Laronde, 1987 Laronde, A., 1987, Cyrène et la Libye hellénistique. Libykai historiai de l’époque républicaine au principat d’Auguste, Paris - see in bibliography  [---] [θε]οῖσ̣ιν [Σωτῆρσιν] : Gasperini, 1965 Gasperini, L., 1965, in S. Stucchi, L'agorà di Cirene. I. I lati Nord ed Est della platea inferiore, Monografie di archeologia libica7, Roma, passim [= , Iscrizioni greche e latine dell'agorà di Cirene, 1-53] - see in bibliography  [---]  [θε]οῖσ̣ιν [---] 

French translation

(a)  [---]  Cyrène. Apollon.  [---]  (Telle autre divinité). Libye.  [---] 

(b) A Zeus Sôtèr [et]  [---]  aux dieux [Sôtèrs]  [---]  les Cyrénéens ont consacré (ce monument).

English translation

(a)  [---]  Cyrene. Apollo.  [---]  (Such-and-such deity). Libya.  [---] 

(b) To Zeus Soter [and]  [---]  to the gods [Soteres]  [---]  the Cyrenaeans dedicated (this monument).

Italian translation

(a)  [---]  Cirene. Apollo.  [---]  (La tal divinità). Libia.  [---] 

(b) A Zeus Sotere [e]  [---]  agli dèi [Soteri]  [---]  i Cirenei hanno dedicato (questo monumento).

Commentary

The base, which stood in front of the North Stoa, was restored by Stucchi and his team in 1976 and the fragments of (b) has been placed so as to be in agreement with the restoration suggested by Gasperini, who only mentioned the formula at Gasperini, 1965 Gasperini, L., 1965, in S. Stucchi, L'agorà di Cirene. I. I lati Nord ed Est della platea inferiore, Monografie di archeologia libica7, Roma, passim [= , Iscrizioni greche e latine dell'agorà di Cirene, 1-53] - see in bibliography , p. 219 as a matter of comparison with the dedication of the North Stoa before which it stood. There has been no publication either of the inscription or of the recomposition of the monument.

Besides, the fragments of marble of this base and of the two monumental altars standing on the agora further to the South, re-used or simply thrown down, were intermingled and scattered all around, so that it was difficult to distinguish amongst them before the careful restoration of all three monuments made by the Italian archaeologists.

So the dedication (b) was first thought to belong to the Western Monumental Altar of the Agora (so Oliverio, 1931 Oliverio, G., 1931, Scavi di Cirene, Bergamo - see in bibliography , p. 20, Gasperini, 1965 Gasperini, L., 1965, in S. Stucchi, L'agorà di Cirene. I. I lati Nord ed Est della platea inferiore, Monografie di archeologia libica7, Roma, passim [= , Iscrizioni greche e latine dell'agorà di Cirene, 1-53] - see in bibliography , Marengo, 1988 Marengo, S.M., 1988, L'agorà di Cirene in età romana alla luce delle testimonianze epigrafiche, Mélanges de l'École française de Rome, Antiquité (MEFRA)100, 87-101 - see in bibliography , p. 97, footnote 39).

Laronde, 1987 Laronde, A., 1987, Cyrène et la Libye hellénistique. Libykai historiai de l’époque républicaine au principat d’Auguste, Paris - see in bibliography , described the monument and pointed out that the fragment iii, being loose, might be placed elsewhere; however he did not suppress Gasperini's θεοῖσιν, a poetical form out of place here.

That the Gods Soteres here mentioned were Ptolemy I and Berenice I was Laronde's idea, the more so that at least one statue was later on replaced by a statue of a Roman emperor (see IRCyr C.122) and a statue of Livia was added. That also Magas was mentioned should remain an interesting hypothesis, fitting well the gap with καὶ βασιλῆι Μάγαι. It should be remembered that Magas, having a priest (see IGCyr020000) was a θεός and he might have also been Σωτήρ. The proposed date is linked to that hypothesis. In the first gap, βασιλεῦσι might be a good guess only if fragment ii was a little further to the right. But it is impossible to be sure of the position of fragments ii, iii and iv unless a thorough publication of all archaeological data occurs.

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