Current Epigraphy
ISSN: 1754-0909

I was wondering if I could tap the collective help of the denizens of Current Epigraphy to read the photograph of a late-era inscription that my colleague Andrea De Giorgi will soon publish in Anatolica as a part of an article detailing a survey of Antioch’s territory. The inscription was spotted in Yeni Şehir (ancient Imma), which is a village that sits on the Antioch-Chalcis-Beorea road about 55 km east of Antioch. It was last seen in 1999 and this photograph is its only known record at this point.

I’ve got a preliminary text, but significant parts of the third and fifth lines have me stumped.

Here are the latest annoucements from ASGLE that may be of interest to the readers of Current Epigraphy:

-CALL FOR PAPERS for the 2009 ASGLE Panel, Joint APA/AIA Meetings, Philadelphia, PA January 8-11: The Publication and Study of Inscriptions in the Age of the Computer, Paul Iversen and Tom Elliott, Organizers. The deadline for abstracts is Feburary 1, 2008. For more information, go here (and scroll down to the bottom).

-ASGLE has some money for Research Awards. These awards consist in travel money for a student working on an epigraphical dissertation to visit a collection somewhere. Send in your nominations to Paul Iversen. All recipients will be required to write up a report of their visit.

-The Ohio State University Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies once again offers short-term fellowships (of one to four months duration) to support visitors pursuing post-doctoral research in Greek and Latin history and epigraphy. The fellowships pay for travel to and from Columbus and a living expense of $1,500 per month; they must be taken up between September 2008 and May 2009. The application deadline is January 31, 2008. For more information, go here.

-The University of Cincinnati Classics Department is pleased to announce the Margo Tytus Visiting Scholars Program, which consists in Margo Tytus Fellowships and Margo Tytus Summer Residencies. The deadline for Margo Tytus Fellowships is January 15, 2008. For more information about the Fellowships and an on-line application, see here. The deadline for Margo Tytus Summer Residencies is February 15, 2008. For information about the Summer Residencies and an on-line application, see here.

-Paul Roesch’s† Les Inscriptions de Thespies (IThesp). When Paul Roesch, who was the Director of Research of CNRS, passed away in 1990, he left unfinished one of his major projects, Les Inscriptions de Thespies — a corpus of Thespian inscriptions. Since 2000 Gilbert Argoud, Albert Schachter and Guy Vottéro have collaborated to publish Roesch’s opus, using the manuscripts, squeezes and photos of Roesch that were deposited in the Maison de l’Orient de Lyon, Université Lumière Lyon II. Albert Schachter is now pleased to report to ASGLE that all eight fascicules of the corpus are finished and he has made them available to be downloaded from the ASGLE website here.

-Albert Schachter also informs us that those interested in Boiotika can down-load current and back issues of Teiresias (to 1991) from the National Library of Canada’s website here. Those who wish to receive new issues (free) in a timely fashion via email can write Albert Schachter.

-Emily Mackil, Director of the Sara B. Aleshire Center for the Study of Greek Epigraphy at Berkeley, informs us that the Advisory Committee of the Center has seen major changes and the Center has updated its website here.

-Nora Dimitrova informs us that The Cornell X-Ray Fluorescence Project has an urgent need for stones to study, preferably inscriptions located in North American collections. The most suitable stones are ones with naturally abraded surfaces, but not with intentional erasures. They would greatly appreciate any information and help regarding sources of suitable stones. They will cover the cost of transportation and make sure that the stones are not damaged in any way. Send in information to Kevin Clinton or Nora Dimitrova.

It is with sadness that I pass on the unhappy news that Peter Fraser, Greek epigrapher and architect of the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, died in the morning of Saturday 15 September.

His funeral will take place at Oxford Crematorium next week; I shall pass on further details as I learn them (see comment).

Julia Shear (University of Glasgow), “Herakleitos of Athmonon, Antigonos Gonatas, and the Panathenaia”, discussed the Athenian decree honouring Herakleitos of Athmonon, IG II(2) 677 (early 250’s BC). She argued, not entirely convincingly, that while most Hellenistic kings were allowed to contribute gifts personally to the Panathenaia, Antigonos Gonatas was unable to do so at the time of this decree and thus had Herakleitos make a donation on his behalf. Since only citizens and allies of Athens were allowed to participate in the festival, it would seem that Antigonos did not have such a status until ca. 255 BC, at which time he was granted citizenship according to Shear (using the evidence of I. Rhamnous 7.2-10 and IG II(2) 793.8-11, both decrees honouring Antigonos).

Delphine Ackermann (Université de Neuchâtel) presented a paper entitled “Le règlement religieux d’Aixonè: quelques réflections sur l’organisation du culte et le panthéon d’un dème de l’Attique”, a preliminary version of a new edition that will be included as an appendix in her dissertation on the deme of Aixone. The fascinating sacred law from Aixone (mod. Glyphada) has most recently been edited, with new fragments, by G. Steinhauer “Hieros Nomos Aixoneon”, in A.P. Matthaiou and G.E. Malochou (eds.) Attikai Epigraphai: Praktika Symposiou eis mnemen Adolf Wilhelm (1864-1950), Athens 2004, 155-173. Ackermann offered a synopsis of the various offerings to numerous deities which are catalogued in this sacred law and convincingly argued that this variety demonstrates that the inscription is a deme document, almost certainly from Aixone itself, and not the product of a phratry or genos, groups which had narrower pantheons. She proposed a few new interpretations of the context of the inscription, most notably, that the 5 drachmai allotted to each priest and priestess cannot be considered a sacrificial tariff since the amount largely exceeds all other known tariffs, and that this amount must instead be thought of as a ‘base salary’ for the priests (similarly the sum of 3 drachmai, which is granted in some cases for the sacrifice of a heuston teleon, would have been a supplement to this base salary).

Marietta Horster (Humboldt University, Berlin) in a paper entitled “(Self-)Representation of Priests and Priestesses in Fourth-Century Athens” catalogued the public recognition of priests and priestesses: known decrees honour almost exclusively foreigners in the fourth century. She also surveyed the evidence for private representation: votive offerings and funerary momuments, which were set up by Athenian priests and priestesses, not foreigners, but very few of them issue from a known cultic family or gene. Further implications of these findings remained unclear for the time being.

Catherine Keesling (George Washington University) delivered a very interesting paper entitled “Syeris, Diakonos of the Priestess Lysimache on the Athenian Acropolis (IG II[2] 3464)”. Through detailed comparison with other examples, she clearly demonstrated that this inscription must be a pillar type A base for a statue (using Raubitschek’s classification), with the capital of the pillar base missing. This usefully accounts for the difference in letterforms found on the inscription which had confused some of the earlier editors: lines 1-4 could have been originally inscribed on the capital and then reinscribed in the 3rd century BC or later, after the loss of the capital. The remaining lines seem to date to the 4th century BC, as is also confirmed by comparing the sculptor of the statue, Nikomachos, with other signatures of the same name: IG II(2) 4274 (4th century) and IG II(2) 3038 (a choregic monument dated to 364/3). Keesling is thus able to convincingly conclude that the Syeris honoured in IG II(2) 3464 must have been the diakonos of the famous Lysimache, the long-serving priestess of Athena Polias (IG II2 3453), whom David Lewis identified as the inspiration for Lysistrata (Selected Papers in Greek and Near Eastern History, ed. P.J. Rhodes, Cambridge 1997, 187-202).

Marijana Ricl (University of Belgrade), in “Neokoroi in the Greek World”, outlined the function of these cultic officials as temple wardens and sometimes as replacements for priests, drawing on a large number of inscriptions. She argued that in most contexts the terms zakoros and neokoros seem to refer to the same function. Yet it was apparent that a more detailed study of neokoroi would need to compare and contrast these officials with neopoiai and other groups of cultic officials.

Beate Dignas (Somerville College, University of Oxford) surveyed a few inscriptions recording foundations of new cults in “How to Found a Cult: Epigraphic Manifestations”, notably F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées des cités grecques 129 (Anaphe) and 180 (Paros). Many interesting issues raised by this paper remain to be developed further, such as the distinction between individual and public motivations for a foundation as well as the involvement of foreigners in founding new cults and enhancing local forms of religious practice.

A paper by Eran Lupu (George Washington University), “Of Priests and Snouts: The Snout as a Priestly Prerogative in Greek Cult Regulations”, was read in absentia by the author’s wife, Catherine Keesling. Snouts were considered a refreshingly entertaining subject by the Oxford audience, yet they are only seldom attested in sacred laws: F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées d’Asie mineure 21.5-6 (Erythrai) and 54.4 (Didyma), and possibly Lois sacrées des cités grecques 151.B.20 (Kos) where the restoration is not certain. Lupu suggested that the uncertain mention of an akrokolion, ‘extremity’, in a fragmentary sacred law, I. Ephesos 1263, may refer to a snout, but Lois sacrées d’Asie mineure 54 shows that this could not have always been the case, since it distinguishes between akrokolia and snouts. Various literary sources collected in Athenaeus 3.48 demonstrate that snouts were prized delicacies.

Maria Paz de Hoz (University of Salamanca), in “Confession Inscriptions and Other Testimonies of Aretalogy in the Greek World”, discussed several inscriptions from G. Petzl, Die Beichtinschriften Weskleinasiens, EA 22 (1994), and from P. Herrmann and H. Malay, New Documents from Lydia, TAM 24 Suppl. (Vienna 2007). Classifying confession inscriptions as aretalogical texts, she stressed that the main aim of these inscriptions was to publicize the power of gods to punish human transgressions (dunamis), over and beyond any notion of benevolent divine power. In the case of the texts from Maionia in Lydia, she argued that the “receding economical power of the sanctuaries as well as the loss of influence [of these sanctuaries] on the community”–factors perhaps tied to the rise of Christianity–led priestly officials to foster the practice of erecting these inscriptions.

After an introduction by Patrick Bakker (Université de Laval, Québec), which gave a brief overview of this “old yet always new” subject, there were four speakers in this very diverse panel:

Filippo Canali de Rossi (Liceo Scientifico Talete, Rome) gave a paper entitled “Achaean Military Support for Rome: A New Interpretation”, with the aim of clarifying the dating of Moretti, ISE 60. This inscription records the support lended by Achaean cities during a Roman campaign led by Gnaius Domitius (Ahenobarbus) against the Galatians. There are two possible identifications of the leader of this expedition, the consuls of 192 BC and 122 BC respectively. Adducing the evidence of SIG(3) 606, which records a dedication by Achaean mercenaries of a statue of Attalos II at Pergamon ca. 190 BC as a result of a campaign in Lydia, Canali de Rossi presented the hypothesis that the two military expeditions were linked and that the earlier date of ca. 192 BC for ISE 60 must be preferred.

Jean-Christophe Couvenhes (Université de Tours) presented a preliminary report on his work in preparing a corpus of Greek inscriptions which mention troops devoted to civic and territorial defense in Attica: “Péripoloi, kryptoi et hypaithroi dans la défense de l’Attique: permanence civique, influence royale”. He outlined in some detail the historical development of these various groups, which succeeded one another: peripoloi and peripolarchoi (generally from the end of the 5th century to ca. 332/280 BC), kryptoi (‘covert’ units, 287-229 BC), and hypaithroi (non-garrisoned troops, from 229 to probably the end of the 1st century BC). The question of the influence that Hellenistic kings may have had on these developments was briefly raised.

Henri-Louis Fernoux (Université de Bourgogne, Dijon), in “Représentations et faits de guerre dans cités grecques d’Asie mineure à l’époque impérial à travers le témoignage de l’épigraphie”, offered an account of the evolution of warfare in Asia Minor during the centuries of Roman imperial peace. Local conflicts between neighbouring cities such as Nikaia and Nikomedeia, illustrated by sometimes rich epigraphical dossiers (cf. L. Robert, “La titulature de Nicée et de Nicomédie: la gloire et la haine,” HSCP 81, 1977, 1-39 = OMS VI, Paris 1989, 211-249), show that warfare took place mostly on a psychological and covert level, and that effective ‘faits de guerre’ were few and far between.

Eduard Rung (University of Kazan), in “Diplomacy of Classical Greece and the Inscriptions”, presented a general overview of the large number of inscribed treaties of alliance (symmachia) between Greek cities which date from the 5th and 4th centuries BC. He is preparing a new study of these inscriptions.

The first thematic panel of Monday included communications on diplomatic (Lambert) and political (Scafuro) practice and chronology (Tracy). Simone Follet, who was also scheduled to offer a communication, was unable to attend.

Stephen Lambert (Cardiff University), “The Shape of Athenian External Relations 352/1-322/1: the Perspective of the Inscribed Decrees”, offered an overview of trends and patterns in Athenian foreign policy during the third quarter of the third century BC, based on his work for the forthcoming fascicle of IG II³. He observed that, as expected, few treaties or decrees honouring cities survive from the period between the battle of Chaironeia and the Lamian war. This should not be taken to imply, however, that diplomatic activity itself had diminished; honorific decrees for individual foreigners testify to the contrary. From now on, there is an increasing emphasis on diplomacy through the mediation of individuals.

Stephen Tracy (ASCSA, Athens), “- -sinos, A New Archon of Athens”, presented an unpublished inscription from the Library of Hadrian (inv. no. BA 457), read and restored by Paraskevi Bardani. This ephebic catalogue’s main interest lies in the certain mention of a new third-century BC Athenian archon, whose name (in the genitive) ends in [---]σίνου (perhaps [Τελε]σίνου). Letter-type, parallels in the disposition of the catalogue, possible prosopographical connections and the few remaining gaps in the Athenian archon-list led the speaker to a tentative dating in the late 260’s.

Adele Scafuro (Brown University), “A Crown for the Asking: Athenian Requests to Honor Athenians, the Epigraphical Evidence: 337/6-279 B.C.”, dealt with requests by Athenian citizens for honours, especially in the context of an office they held. First, she examined the relative terminology (paralleled by the one used for verbal reports in front of the Council or the Assembly). Then, she focussed on procedure, especially in cases where honours were voted before the honorand’s service was concluded. She argued that the procedure was simpler than previously assumed: the honorand went through the euthyna after his term of office and was only then allowed to have the decree in his honour inscribed; since the document he had in his possession was the original one, voted before his service was concluded, the inscribed text still includes the –now irrelevant– phrase “… after he goes through the euthyna”. Finally, the speaker tentatively suggested that Clinton, I. Eleusis n^o 95 (IG II² 1191), a text problematic in several details, includes the honorand’s request for honours.

The conference opened with a first plenary session which featured informative lectures by two prominent experts in the fields of Greek and Roman religion respectively.

Robert Parker (New College, University of Oxford) offered an overview of the value of inscriptions, especially sacred laws, for the study of Greek religion. He noted that these texts for the most part yield only chance fragments of useful ritual information, since they were often inscribed for other purposes (e.g. accounting, which appears to be the main purpose of cultic calendars like that of the Attic genos of the Salaminioi: F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées des cités grecques, Supplément no.19). Assuming that most sacred laws were not written as blueprints for rituals, unlike the books used by marginal groups such as the Orphics, Parker offered two alternative reasons why sacred laws were inscribed: 1) to draw the attention of worshippers to details which were unexpected in normal ritual practice; and 2) to record innovations in ritual practice (traditional practices could thus remain unwritten). As a unique exception, he drew attention to the issue of pollution and purification, which appears to have required special exegesis. The salient examples are two famous cathartic laws: M. Jameson, D. Jordan and R. Kotansky, A Lex Sacra from Selinous (GRBM 11, 1993), and the sacred law from Cyrene, P. Rhodes and R. Osborne, Greek Historical Inscriptions no.97.

Parker’s presentation usefully presented a collection of interesting sacred laws to a wide audience yet it also raised at least a few concerns about this approach to the subject of epigraphy and Greek religion. First, detailed sacred laws like the cathartic laws of Selinous and Cyrene, not to mention other extensively detailed inscriptions like the regulation of the mysteries at Andania (F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées des cités grecques no.65), seem to prove that epigraphic blueprints for rituals were not uncommon in the Greek world. Second, whether one can convincingly distinguish between innovations, exceptions, and traditional practice in Greek rituals is problematic and certainly warrants more caution in future research on the subject.

John Scheid (Collège de France, Paris) presented a discussion of Latin epigraphy and religion that neatly paralleled Robert Parker’s paper. He surveyed the genres of inscriptions that particularly illuminate the study of Roman religion: sacerdotal commentaries such as those of the Arval Brethren, regulations, fasti, defixiones, and votive inscriptions. This was followed by a brief history of the growing importance of epigraphy in scholarship from Mommsen and Wissowa to Degrassi and Panciera, culminating in an appraisal of Ittai Gradel’s, Emperor Worship and Roman Religion (Oxford 2002). Scheid further noted that the epigraphic sources for Roman religion are comparable with those for Greek religion, since the inscriptions are often ambiguous and laconic as far as details of rituals are concerned. He emphasised that religious texts were intended to be read by a limited audience, if not simply as dedicatory monuments addressed to a deity. In conclusion, Scheid praised the value of inscriptions for the study of graeco ritu festivals at Rome, notably the ludi saeculares (the relevant texts are collected in B. Schnegg-Koehler, Die Augusteischen Saekularspiele, Leipzig and Munich 2002).

Posted to the Digital Classicist list (from ancientpglinguistics) by Kalle Korhonen.

This event ought to be of interest to anyone involved in: EpiDoc publications; EAGLE and other databases; APIS and other papyrological corpora; digital or analogue linguistic study of documentary texts.

Electronic corpora of ancient languages

International Conference
Prague (Czech Republic), November 16-17th, 2007
http://enlil.ff.cuni.cz/ecal/
Call for papers

Aims of conference

Electronic corpora of ancient languages offer important information about the culture and history of ancient civilizations, but at the same time they constitute a valuable source of linguistic information. The scholarly community is increasingly aware of the importance of computer-aided analysis of these corpora, and of the rewards it can bring. The construction of electronic corpora for ancient languages is a complex task. Many more pieces of information have to be taken into account than for living languages, e.g. the artefact bearing the text, lacunae, level of restoration, etc. The electronic corpora can be enriched with links to images, annotations, and other secondary sources. The annotations should deal with matters such as textual damage, possible variant readings, etc., as well as with many features specific to ancient languages.

(more…)

The Photographic Database, a subsidiary database of the Epigraphische Datenbank Heidelberg has gone online.

See Content / Search

Chuck Jones writes:

For the first time, a text has been found in Old Persian language that shows the written language in use for practical recording and not only for royal display. The text is inscribed on a damaged clay tablet from the Persepolis Fortification Archive, now at the Oriental Institute at The University of Chicago. The tablet is an administrative record of the payout of at least 600 quarts of an as-yet unidentified commodity at five villages near Persepolis in about 500 B.C.

For more on this discovery see:

http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/06/old-persian-text-in-persepolis.html

The publication of this document also includes new photographs of other interesting documents in the Archive, including the Greek tablet and the Phrygian tablet.

Napoli (Italia): 29 giugno 2007. - Programma.

Recently, we’ve posted announcements and programs for several interesting colloquia and lectures, including:

• Athletes and Artists in Naples (29 June 2007)
  
• Public opinion and forms of communication at Rome (21-23 June 2007)
  
• Roman epigraphy in Sardinia (14-15 July 2007)
  

Only a small percentage of interested readers will be able to attend these meetings. We would be eager to receive and publish here short summaries of individual papers for the benefit of a wider audience. Contributions from the organizers of the meetings, from authors of individual papers and from attendees would be welcome.

In particular, we would be interested in knowing:

• Summaries of conclusions
• Full citations for published inscriptions discussed, presented or re-edited
• For unpublished inscriptions: pertinent details such as: provenance, type (e.g., imperial constitution or sepulchral inscription), date(s), known individuals, unique or interesting features
• Plans for future publication

All contributions should reiterate the full names and institutional affiliations of the papers’ authors, as well as the full title of the paper.

Sant’Antiocho (Sardegna, Italia): 14-15 luglio 2007 — Programma

Bertinoro (Italia), 21-23 giugno 2007 - Informazioni e programma