Dedication to the Theoi Apotropaioi

IGCyr114900

Trismegistos ID: 738701

Source Description

Support

Marble altar with plain mouldings on top and bottom (0.165; 0.12;0.11).

Layout

Inscribed on front face, axial layout not respected at right (0.235; 0.075;).

Letters

0.003-0.008; serifs, alpha with dropped bar, little omicron, pi with projecting upper bar, non-slanting sigma; delta erroneously duplicated at line 2.

Place of Origin

Findspot.

Date

Second half of second century B.C. (context, lettering)

Findspot

Found in 2010 at Cyrene : in the Southern Extra-Mural Sacred Zone , oikos in the Southern temple precinct (also called Apotropaion): room F1, sounding 18, SU 6.

Present Location

Not seen by IGCyr team.

Text constituted from

Transcription from photograph (SMM).

Bibliography

Marengo, 2011 , pp. 249-252, fig. 7 (p. 238), whence SEG , 61.1554. Cf. Dobias-Lalou, 2013 , pp. 190-191; Antonini, 2016 , p. 46; Marengo, 2016 , p. 169.

Text

Δαμόφιλος Δαμοφίλω Ἀπόλλωνι {δ} Διὶ Ἀθηνᾶι Ἀποτροπαίοις

Apparatus

French translation

Damophilos fils de Damophilos (a consacré ce monument) à Apollon, Zeus et Athèna, (dieux) Apotropaioi.

English translation

Damophilos son of Damophilos (dedicated this monument) to Apollo, Zeus and Athena, (gods) Apotropaioi.

Italian translation

Damophilos figlio di Damophilos (ha dedicato questo monumento) ad Apollo, Zeus e Atena, (dèi) Apotropaioi.

Commentary

This dedication gives a decisive clue for IGCyr016700, ll. 4-7: the mentioned gates are the Southern ones and the Apotropaion is located along the road to Western Cyrenaica, in view of the gates.

The Doric genitive ending in is preserved, but Athena is written in koine. At the presumed date of the inscription, this feature might be due to the influence of the koine rather than be a reflex of a non-Doric origin of the dedicant ( pace Antonini, 2016 , p. 46).

The worship of Apollo Apotropaios at Cyrene is documented in IGCyr016700, ll. 6-7 and IGCyr100200, ll. 3-4. No other mention of this epithet was hitherto known for the two other gods.

Images