ISic003023: Rupestral graffiti describing sexual relations

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ID
ISic003023
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
explicit
Object type
rock-cut tomb
Status
draft
Links
View in current site

Edition

Giacomo Manganaro, «Iscrizioni “rupestri” di Sicilia», in Rupes loquentes: atti del convegno internazionale di studio sulle iscrizioni rupestri di età romana in Italia. Roma - Bomarzo 13-15.X.1989, a c. di L. Gasperini (Rome: Istituto Italiano per la Storia Antica, 1992), 447–501 Zotero
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Apparatus criticus

  • Text of Manganaro

Physical description

Support

Description
Inscriptions incised on the walls of a large rock-cut tomb: Inscription (a) is on the rear wall of the tomb, inscription (b) is above the entrance on the interior side.
Object type
rock-cut tomb
Material
natural rock
Object condition
complete
Dimensions
height: cm, width: cm, depth: cm

Inscription

Layout
Inscription (a) is made up of two overlapping lines, 2.5 m wide, inscription (b) a single line of text, 2.2 m wide
Text condition
complete
Technique
chiselled
Pigment
No data
Lettering

Standard quadrate Greek letters of the Hellenistic period.

Letter heights
Line 1-2: 60-80mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Leontini
Provenance found
First observed by Manganaro and others in 1973, in the area of Coste di Palagonia, behind M. Croce, in the first row of rock-cut tombs on the NW ridge

Current location

Place
Lentini, Coste di Palagonia, Italy
Repository
Autopsy
None

Date

3rd — 2nd century BCE (300 BC - 101 BC)
Evidence
lettering

Text type

explicit

commentary

The texts record sexual acts between Nymphodoros, a seller of salted fish, and Damylis.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
11/22/2025