Dedication to Aphrodite (ISic001273)

Apparatus criticus

line.1: [ἐπὶ ἱερείας τᾶς Ἀφ]ροδίτας Manganaro; ἱερατεύσας θεᾶς Ἀφρ]οδίτας Franz (ap. CIG III 5652); ἱερατεύσασαν τᾶς Ἀφρ]οδίτας Kaibel (ap. IG XIV 448)
line.2: [τᾶς δεῖνος τᾶς Νικο(?)]στράτου Manganaro; τῆς δεῖνος τῆς τοῦ ---]στράτου Franz (ap. CIG III 5652); τᾶς δεῖνος τῆς τοῦ ---]στράτου Kaibel (ap. IG XIV 448)
line.3: [ὁ δεῖνα τοῦ δεῖνος, Ἀρχεβ(?)]ούλα Manganaro; ἡ δεῖνα Ἀρχεβ]οῦλα Franz (ap. CIG III 5652); ἀνέθεκεν ἁ β]οῦλα Kaibel (ap. IG XIV 448), Hoffmann
line.4: [ἡ δεῖνα — — — Ἀφρο]δίται Manganaro; ἡ δεῖνα θεᾷ Ἀφρο]δίτᾳ Franz (ap. CIG III 5652); ὁ δᾶμος καὶ Ἀφρο]δίται Kaibel (ap. IG XIV 448), Hoffmann

Physical description

Support

Description: No data
Object type: unknown
Object condition: No data
Dimensions: height: cm, width: cm, depth: cm

Material

Description: volcanic stone
Type > subtype: inorganic.stone > unverified

Inscription

Layout: No data
Text condition: No data
Technique: chiselled
Pigment: No data
Lettering: No data
Letter heights: Line 1: mm
Interlinear heights: Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin: Catina
Provenance found: Found in 1703 in a church of Motta S. Anastasia (part of chora of Katania)

Current location

Lost.

Date

4th — 2nd century BCE (Korhonen 2003, p. 70) (400 BCE - 101 BCE)

Evidence: No data

Text type

dedication

commentary

This dedicatory inscription was made to Aphrodite, perhaps by three individuals, of whom the only partially preserved name is Archeboula (the name also appears in an inscription of the imperial period from Thermae Himeraeae: Kokalos 20 (1974), no. 17 (ISic001139)). According to Kaibel’s restoration (ap. IG XIV 448), the dedication would have been made by the Catanean boule and demos, however, in the absence of parallels for public dedications made by the Catanean civic institutions, Manganaro’s interpretation, according to which the dedication was made by private individuals, appears preferable. The cult of Aphrodite at Catania is attested by literary sources (the Pervigilium Veneris, which describes festivities that could be associated with the Catanean chora), numismatic evidence (some bronze coins from the Catanean territory dating between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC depicting the Goddess on the recto holding a dove), and epigraphic evidence, such as the dedication CIL X 2, 7013 (ISic000297), discovered near Motta S. Anastasia, in the Catanean chora, which mentions the cult of Venus Venetrix at Hybla Gereatis, a kome of Catania. The dating of the inscription is indicated in the first two lines by the mention of the priestess of Aphrodite, whose patronymic, Νικο]στράτου, was cautiously proposed by Manganaro (1994, 165 n. 115), a name rather widespread in imperial-period Sicily (cf. LGPN IIIA p. 327).

Bibliography

Digital editions

Printed editions

Discussion

Citation and editorial status

Editor

Jonathan Prag

Principal contributor