Support
Two adjacent fragments of a nummulitic limestone base, widely mutilated on the left; the blocks are finished on all sides; there is a hole on the upper side. On the front face of the left fragments there is a quadrangular recess for the insertion of a panel, perhaps resulting from a subsequent reuse. (overall dimensions 1.51; 0.645;0.53).
Layout
Inscribed along the upper edge.
Letters
0.035-0.043; carefully cut letters without serifs; slightly smaller dotted theta, slanting mu, open omega.
Place of Origin
Findspot.
Date
Second half of fourth century B.C. (lettering)
Findspot
Found by G. Oliverio on November 25th, 1916 at Cyrene pleiades; HGL : agora, reused in the wall of a Byzantine house, at the North-West corner of the agora (house XIII Stucchi, in the Western side of the portico).
Last recorded Location
Observed by C. Dobias-Lalou in 1977 standing in the area where it was found.
Text constituted from
Transcription from stone (CDL).
Oliverio, Taccuini inediti Oliverio, G., Taccuini inediti - see in bibliography , VIII.56 and Anti, Taccuini inediti Anti, C., Taccuini inediti - see in bibliography , A VI 10, 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 , 169 (no image); 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. 329, n. 1, pl. LXIV, 6 (= Gasperini, 2008 Gasperini, L., and Arnaldi, A., Marengo, S.M. (eds.), 2008, Scritti di epigrafia greca, Ichnia10, Tivoli - see in bibliography , pp. 46-47, fig. 20,1); Gasperini, 1967 Gasperini, L., 1967, Le epigrafi, in S. Stucchi, Cirene 1957-1966: Un decennio di attività della missione archeologica italiana a Cirene, Quaderni dell'Istituto italiano di cultura di Tripoli3, Tripoli, 165-189 [= , 75-104] - see in bibliography , p. 168, n. 14, fig. 198 (= Gasperini, 2008 Gasperini, L., and Arnaldi, A., Marengo, S.M. (eds.), 2008, Scritti di epigrafia greca, Ichnia10, Tivoli - see in bibliography , p. 81, n. 14, fig. 14); Stucchi, 1975 Stucchi, S., 1975, Architettura cirenaica, Monografie di Archeologia libica9, Roma - see in bibliography , p. 91; 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. 103, 117.
1 [---] τω : 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 , Gasperini, 1967 Gasperini, L., 1967, Le epigrafi, in S. Stucchi, Cirene 1957-1966: Un decennio di attività della missione archeologica italiana a Cirene, Quaderni dell'Istituto italiano di cultura di Tripoli3, Tripoli, 165-189 [= , 75-104] - see in bibliography [ὁ δεῖνα τῶ δεῖνος θεῶι ἐπὶ ἱερέως---] τω : 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 , Gasperini, 1967 Gasperini, L., 1967, Le epigrafi, in S. Stucchi, Cirene 1957-1966: Un decennio di attività della missione archeologica italiana a Cirene, Quaderni dell'Istituto italiano di cultura di Tripoli3, Tripoli, 165-189 [= , 75-104] - see in bibliography [ὁ δεῖνα τῶ δεῖνος θεοῖς ἐπὶ ἱερέως---] τω : 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 [ὁ δεῖνα---] τω
[Untel fils de] [---] tos et petit-fils de Melanippos a consacré (ce monument).
[So-and-so son of] [---] tos and grand-son of Melanippos dedicated (this monument).
[Il tale figlio di ] [---] tos e nipote di Melanippos ha dedicato (questo monumento).
Pugliese Carratelli did not find the stone in 1960 and edited the inscription from Oliverio's notebook. After Stucchi's excavations on the agora, which began in 1957, the stone has become clearly visible to all visitors.
As no personal name ending with -τωτος is known, the only justification for a segment ΤΩΤΩ is that there stood a personal name, followed by a father's name ending with τος, itself followed by the article and the grandfather's name, who was Melanippos.
As Gasperini rightly pointed out, the lost part at left is of undeterminable dimension, perhaps extending on other blocks, so that before the personal names the gap would allow for the name of one or several deities to whom the dedication was made, although such a mention is not compulsory. His idea that the name of the eponym priest also stood there is less convincing.
The prosopographical relation proposed by Stucchi, 1975 Stucchi, S., 1975, Architettura cirenaica, Monografie di Archeologia libica9, Roma - see in bibliography , p. 91 may seem hypothetical; however, the fact that the grandfather is mentioned allows to suspect with 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. 103, 117 that he belonged to an important family.
For the excavations of the time in that area see now Luni, 2014 Luni, M., 2014, Il primo decennio di scavi a Cirene. Ettore Ghislanzoni (1913-1923), in M. Luni (ed.), La scoperta di Cirene. Un secolo di scavi, 1913-2013, Monografie di archeologia libica37, Cirene Atene d'Africa8, Roma, 43-79 - see in bibliography , pp. 51-52.
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