Support
Two adjacent fragments of a marble block (0.603; 0.289;0.17 at left to 0.22 at right); this block was part of a monumental base consisting of another block at left and three at right. Another not-inscribed fragment shows that the monument was made of two rows of similar blocks in depth.
Layout
Inscribed on front face in 4 lines; varying space between letters for an axial layout.
Letters
0.032 (estimated from photograph); careful script with serifs; non slanting sigma.
Place of Origin
Findspot.
Date
Perhaps 116/5 or 108/7 B.C. (reign)
Findspot
Found between 1958 and 1961 at Cyrene pleiades; HGL : agora , reused in the fence of the Audience Hall that replaced the Augusteum .
Last recorded Location
Observed by L. Gasperini in 1961 in Shahat : in the Storeroom of the Italian missions .
Present Location
Not seen by IGCyr team.
Text constituted from
Transcription from editor.
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. 315 n. 1, pl. LVII, 3 (= Gasperini, 2008 Gasperini, L., and Arnaldi, A., Marengo, S.M. (eds.), 2008, Scritti di epigrafia greca, Ichnia10, Tivoli - see in bibliography , pp. 41-42); 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. 170, n. 20, fig. 204 (= Gasperini, 2008 Gasperini, L., and Arnaldi, A., Marengo, S.M. (eds.), 2008, Scritti di epigrafia greca, Ichnia10, Tivoli - see in bibliography , p. 83). Cf. 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. 445-446, whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 38.1899; Criscuolo, 2011 Criscuolo, L., 2011, I due testamenti di Tolemeo VIII Evergete II, in A. Jördens, J.Fr. Quack (eds.), Ägypten zwischen innerem Zwist und äusserem Druck: die Zeit Ptolemaios' VI. bis VIII.: internationales Symposion Heidelberg 16.-19.9.2007, Wiesbaden, 132-150 - see in bibliography , p. 137.
1 Βασιλῆ : 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
Βασιλέα
2 [τὸς ἐκ βασιλεῦς] Πτολεμαίω θεῶ [Εὐεργέτα] : 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
[τοὺς ἐκ βασιλέως] Πτολεμαίω θεῶ [τῶ Εὐεργέτα]
3-4 [ἐς ἑαυτὸς] | (vac.) : 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
| [ἐς ἑαυτοὺς]
4 Κ[υραναῖοι] : 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
Κ[υραναῖοι?]
(La statue) du roi Ptolémée et de la reine [Cléopatre sa soeur, Dieux Sôtères, nés du roi] Ptolémée, Dieu [Evergète et de la reine Cléopatre, Déesse,] en raison de [leur valeur] et de [leur générosité envers eux] (a été consacrée), par les C[yrénéens?].
(The statue) of king Ptolemy and of queen [Cleopatra his sister, Gods Soteres, born from king] Ptolemy, God [Euergetes and from queen Cleopatra, Goddess,] on behalf of [their virtue] and well-doing [towards themselves] (was dedicated) by the C[yrenaeans?].
(La statua) del re Tolemeo e della regina [Cleopatra sua sorella, Dèi Soteri, nati dal re] Tolemeo, Dio [Evergete e dalla regina Cleopatra, Dea,] in considerazione del [valore] e della generosità [nei loro confronti] (è stata dedicata) dai C[irenei?].
Dedication of statues of Ptolemy IX Soter II and Cleopatra IV or Cleopatra Selene according to Gasperini, of Ptolemy IX Soter II and Cleopatra Selene according to Laronde. Whence date: 116/15 or 108/7 B.C. It was clear for both that a Ptolemy and a Cleopatra mentioned together and being chidren of another Ptolemy could only offer those two possibilities. We do not choose between them. C. Dobias-Lalou offers here new restorations based on the layout of the different lines and on the titulatures of the kings.
Gasperini gave clues for a restoration, supposing that one block was lost at left and one at right. His restoration for line 1 of the block lost at left are perfectly convincing with an amount of 13 letters like on the preserved block. However we cannot follow him about line 4: the block is blank before the preserved kappa and the space between letters on this line was at least 0.066. The next block might thus host only ΥΡΑΝΑΙ and OI should be cut on one more block. Symmetrically with the beginning of the line, a large space would cover the end of this block and one more. The whole monument should thus consist of five blocks.
The words restored by Gasperini at the beginning of line 4 should be kept at the end of line 3. The whole causal syntagm stood on that line, which fits perfectly the spacement of letters. Lines 1 and 2 were filled with the titulature: king and queen at line 1, their parents at line 2. For line 1 we have a model in IGCyr011100, a.31-32. With 31 characters at line 1 and 34 at line 2, where they are cut more closely to one another, the totals fit well the three blocks lost at right.
The preserved part of line 2 shows that the dedication was written in the local dialect, which is usual when the dedication is made by the Cyrenaenans. We thus inserted the dialectel features into the restored parts.
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