To begin: the inscription is found one of a number of ossuaries still  in situ in a tomb in Jerusalem, so we’re dealing with a funerary context. The inscription is only seen in photos (of varying quality) because the tomb was explored via a robotic camera. When the tomb was originally excavated back in 1980 or thereabouts,  the inscription itself does not seem to have been recorded (or if it was, it has not been published). Further complicating things is the fact that the ossuaries were moved around and there are plenty of scratches thereon, which may or may not be affecting the reading of this inscription. Amongst the artifacts found in association with the ossuary inscription was this pot:

Figure 1

… such pots are conventionally dated (as far as I’m aware) to the first centuries B.C./B.C.E. to the first century A.D./C.E.. The inscription itself has been presented in a number of photos of varying quality (clicking on the images should bring up larger versions; if not, links to the original photos can be found at the end of this post):

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

The one I was working from is a variation on the first (it has some circles); it’s probably identical save for the circles:

Figure 5

The following ‘excerpts’ come from this image and have been zoomed 50% … the first line:

Line One

Questions:

• it seems to read DIOS, but why would such a word be on what is likely a Jewish ossuary?
• it is assumed to be one word in some readings; perhaps it carries over to the next line?
• might it be connected to a month name in the Seleucid calendar (were those month names still being used?

Line Two

Questions:

• does this carry over from the previous line?
• is the first letter an iota, a tau, or maybe even a gamma?
• are there only four letters here or are there perhaps more?

Line Three

Questions:

• is the first letter a tau, an upsilon, or some combination letter (sometimes referred to as a compendia)?
• how many letters are there in this line?
• is that Y-shaped thing an upsilon or a psi (is that a scratch or a branch)?
• is there a small tau beside that or is that just a scratch?

Line four

Questions:

• again, how many letters are here?
• are those letters alpha, gamma, beta or is the second letter a mu or a pi?
• is the last letter a beta or something with a ligature?

“L’écriture dans la maison romaine”, edited by Mireille CORBIER and Jean-Pierre GUILHEMBET, published by DE BOCCARD (11 rue de Médicis 75 006 PARIS). 426 pages. 193 illustrations. Price : 60 euros.

Through the global analysis of writing in the domestic space, this edited volume looks at all forms of a writing culture, from archeological or epigraphical traces to forms mentioned only in literary sources. It demonstrates the great variety of media, but also of types of writing that can be found in the domestic context. “Books,” archives, writing materials, everyday objects with inscriptions: all have been integrated into the field of research covered in the essays in this volume. The practices found in the Roman household that are catalogued here point to usages very different from our own in a world where the practice of writing, a privilege shared by a fraction of the population, had multiple functions. The twenty chapters in this volume highlight certain writing forms and usages and cannot claim to be exhaustive. Social pretension and a desire for social distinction, the construction of the family memory, the pleasure of “reading together,” a constant dialog with guests, the conservation and archiving of personal and professional documents, apprenticeship in relations of authority, the written expression of vota and respects paid to the genius of the pater familias and to the domestic Lares, affirmation of the self by the writing of personal messages: all are part of the domestic writing culture analyzed here. The household is a space placed under the authority of masters, where domestic cults are practiced, where the family’s children and young slaves benefit from a variety of acculturating experiences: the hierarchy of behaviors expected of all the domestic actors, but also the practice of reading and writing. The households of magistrates and men exercising a profession were first and foremost places and instruments of their professional activities, and only afterwards spaces of representation and conviviality.

This volume is the product of an international colloquium organized by “L’Année épigraphique” group of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and brings together articles written by twenty-one historians, archaeologists, and philologists from seven different countries (France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, and Tunisia). The authors are specialists of the ancient Mediterranean world and offer their contributions as possible avenues for comparative research with other historical periods and societies. They are asking questions about writing practices and levels of literacy in Roman society, about the relations between text and image and the culture that lies behind them, about the relations between the written and the oral and the dialog between the inner self and the public self, about the diversity of graphical forms and what they reveal about the ability to read and to write.

Abstracts and other information can be found here:
http://www.diomedes.dk/events_diomedes.htm

The Materiality of Texts. Conference at Durham University
September 24-26, 2012

Organizers: Dr Edmund Thomas, Dr Andrej Petrovic, Dr Ivana Petrovic

In recent years, the study of ancient texts has gained from a focus on the physicality of text. Epigraphists are interested more than ever in issues of context, reading and performance. Furthermore, studies of architecture have fed on literary approaches to take account of displays of writing and their implications. The project ‘The Materiality of Text’ brings together these cross-disciplinary approaches to focus on material aspects of the written word.

We invite scholars from a range of disciplines, including philology, epigraphy, ancient history, archaeology and art history, to join us in discussing the physical aspects of inscribed texts in the Greek and Roman world, in Greek, Latin and other scripts, and their relation to literature, art, cultural history, and aesthetics.

Papers are invited on both theoretical approaches and individual case-studies which seek to address questions such as: the visualization of text in a physical context, whether monumental or miniature; the relationship of inscriptions to their support, including steles and statue bases; the appearance of inscribed text in buildings and their impact on the perception of architectural space; the form and varieties of lettering, the aesthetics of writing, and its implications for the reading of a text; issues of visibility and legibility; the role of inscribed dedications or commemorative texts in the perception of buildings sacred or secular;
the placement and arrangement of inscriptions in public, religious or private space; the aesthetics of particular genres of text such as building contracts, epigrams and sacred laws; specific techniques in the display of prose and verse texts, ritual or magical use and performative aspects of inscribed texts; re-dedication and re-use of inscribed texts; and the use and contribution of specialized media of support from monumental bronze letters to miniature gold plaques and precious metals.

Keynote speakers:
Professor Joseph W. Day (Wabash College),
Professor John Mitchell (University of East Anglia),
Professor Joannis Mylonopoulos (Columbia University),
Professor em. Peter J. Rhodes (Durham University).

Abstracts of 250 words should be sent to Ivana Petrovic
(ivana.petrovic@durham.ac.uk) by 31st May 2012.

Wir freuen uns, Ihnen mitteilen zu können, daß Tyche 26 erschienen ist.
Das Inhaltsverzeichnis finden Sie hier: Tyche-Inhalt26

Den Band können Sie entweder direkt beim Verlag bestellen
https://shop.verlagholzhausen.at/hhshop/Tyche-Band-26-2011.htm
oder auch über Amazon beziehen
http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/3902868074

Wir möchten Sie auch darauf aufmerksam machen, daß neben den Bänden 19–24 nun auch Tyche 25 DIGITAL online erworben werden kann:
https://shop.verlagholzhausen.at/hhshop/Tyche-Digital-Edition.htm

Mit herzlichen Grüßen aus Wien
Im Namen der Tyche
Franziska Beutler

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that Tyche 26 has been published!
Please find the table of contents here: Tyche-Inhalt26

You can either place an order for this volume at the publishing house
https://shop.verlagholzhausen.at/hhshop/Tyche-Band-26-2011.htm
or via amazon
http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/3902868074

We also would like to inform you that apart from the volumes 19–24 Tyche 25 DIGITAL is available online:
https://shop.verlagholzhausen.at/hhshop/Tyche-Digital-Edition.htm

Best regards from Vienna
for Tyche
Franziska Beutler

This is to announce the publication of Hispania Epigraphica latest issue, which is respectfully dedicated to the memory of Géza Alföldy (1933-2011).

The volume deals with inscriptions published during the year 2008, although it also includes some selected pieces published in following years. It contains 255 references to new or revised inscriptions (mostly Latin, some in Greek and several in Paleohispanic scripts), sorted by modern place of finding; in total, 45 documents from Portugal and 210 from Spain, to which the editors often add comments, amends or further bibliography.

Notice that, effective from the previous issue, the publisher (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) has changed its policy on digital editions. Now, Hispania Epigraphica is not sequestered for a year after publication, so the latest issue is already available for free download at the UCM journals’ server. Nevertheless,  I’m attaching to this post the volume’s front matter for easy reference.

The inscriptions reviewed in Hispania Epigraphica 17 are now being posted in Hispania Epigraphica Online, with full data and pictures.

“Du mot à l’inscription : recherches lexicales et lexicographiques sur les langues de l’Italie préromaine”

Lyon, 15 mars 2012

Organisé par l’université Lumière-Lyon 2 et l’UMR 5189 HiSoMA.

Papers will deal with: Etruscan, Latin, Sabellic languages, Venetic.
Speakers include: E. Benelli, J.-P. Brachet, D. Briquel, A. Calderini, E. Dupraz, J. Hadas-Lebel, S. Magnin, V. Martzloff, E. Tellier, G. van Heems.

See both Poster and Programm.

Contact: Gilles van Heems (gilles.van-heems@mom.fr).

Il cosiddetto «Ciprominoico 2»: Una decifrazione possibile? – Matilde Serangeli
At the current state of the studies concerning the decipherment of the so–called «Cypro–Minoan»…

Eumenes II and Apollonioucharax – Peter Thonemann
This article presents a revised edition of an important new Hellenistic document from Lydia,…

Three new sarcophagi from Kios (Gemlik) – Enver Sağır, Hüseyin Uzunoğlu, Koncagül Hançer
Three sarcophagi (Fig. 2) dated to the Roman Imperial Period were recently unearthed in Gemlik…

The funerary inscription of Gaius Tarquitius – Konrad Stauner
This article presents a fragmentary inscription of a Roman soldier named Gaius Tarquitius …

Parerga zum Stadiasmus Patarensis (5): STR 59 und Daseia von Bonda – Sencer Şahin
The road between Myra and Limyra (STR 59) was not built along the coast, …

Parerga to the Stadiasmus Patarensis (6): Route 54 (Patara – Phellos) and new inscriptions – Fatih Onur, Mehmet Alkan
In the field survey of the Stadiasmus Patarensis (SP) in 2009, the route between Patara and Phellos …

Parerga to the Stadiasmus Patarensis (7): New inscriptions from the territory of Phellos – Hüseyin Uzunoğlu, Erkan Taşdelen
Some results of the 2010 survey conducted in Central Lycia within the framework of the Stadiasmus …

Parerga to the Stadiasmus Patarensis (8): On the named places in the journeys of sacrifice recorded in the Vita of Saint Nicholas of Holy Sion – Mehmet Alkan
This paper aims to determine the route taken by Nicholas of Holy Sion in his journeys of sacrifice …

Iulius Tarius Titianus, Proconsul of Lycia et Pamphylia – Nuray Gökalp
The inscription presented here was found in a quarter of Antalya and contains an honorary decree …

A Revised Gravestone from Pisidian Apollonia – Asuman Coşkun Abuagla
A gravestone from Pisidian Apollonia, published, with mistakes, by Sterrett, has been revised …

Zu Inschriften aus Kleinasien II – Thomas Corsten
This article proposes thoughts and corrections to three inscriptions…

An interpretation of some unpublished in situ and recorded Rum Seljuk 13th c. external and internal figural relief work on the Belkıs (Aspendos) Palace, Antalya – Terrance Michael Patrick Duggan
This article is divided into four parts. Firstly, it notes the precedent provided by the conversion…

Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche, Giuridiche, Economiche e Sociali dell’Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria
BILG Project

4 – 7 giugno 2012

The Department of Scienze Storiche, Giuridiche, Economiche e Sociali of University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria and the Department Diritto dell’Organizzazione Pubblica, Economia e Società of University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, within BILG (Inscriptiones Graecae et Latinae Bruttiorum) project, is organising an intensive training workshop of EpiDoc, with Monica Berti (Tufts University – Roma Tor Vergata), Lou Burnard (TEI Editor) and Marion Lamè (Università di Bologna).

This workshop is an introduction to the use of TEI and of EpiDoc, XML schema for the encoding and publication of literary texts and inscriptions, papyri and other documentary classical texts respectively. Participants will study the use of EpiDoc markup to record the distinctions expressed by the Leiden Conventions and traditional critical editions, and some of the issues in translating between EpiDoc and the major epigraphic and papyrological databases. The course is targeted at scholars of historical and ancient texts, epigraphic and papyrologic ones (from advanced graduate students to professors), that are interested and want to learn some of the hands-on technical aspects in the markup, encoding, and exploitation of digital editions.

The course will give a practical introduction to the Text Encoding Initiative, an introduction to EpiDoc markup and editing tools, and the text transformations with XSLT.

For more details about EpiDoc and TEI /XML, see at http://epidoc.sf.net and http://www.tei-c.org. Knowledge of Greek and/or Latin, the Leiden  Conventions, the distinctions expressed by them and the kinds of data that need to be recorded by epigraphic scholars and ancient historians are of  course essential. The course will be held in English with Italian tutors. No particular computer skills and technical expertise are required, even if the possession of an interest for computer know-how is preferable.

The workshop is free of charge and open to all, but spaces are limited (not more than 20 people) and registration as soon as possible is essential. To enrol in the training, please contact daria.spampinato@cnr.it or stefania.romeo@unirc.it with a brief statement of qualifications and interests.