ISic003246: Epitaph for Merkouriales

I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana
ID
ISic003246
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
Links
View in current site

Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text based on photograph;
  • Castelli, Ferrara, Franz, and Kaibel read the inscription intact

Physical description

Support

Description
Two joining fragments of marble plaque, damaged on the lower left corner. The fragments were set in plaster in modern times.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
fragments, contiguous
Dimensions

Inscription

Layout
No data
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Lines 1-5: 15-23mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: not recordedmm

Provenance

Place of origin
Catina
Provenance found
Original discovery not recorded, but probably from Catania.

Current location

Place
Catania, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico di Catania
Autopsy
None
Map

Date

Second half of 1st — end 2nd century CE (AD 50 – AD 200)
Evidence
No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

Kaibel believed the inscription to be urban, but according to Korhonen the structure is typical of Catania. The epitaph, in fact, presents, after the traditional invocation to the underworld deities, the name of the deceased, his age and in another sentence the dedicant and the dedication verb. The form ἔποισε is also attested in IMusCatania 65 = ISic003223. Moreover, Korhonen dates the ink writing ‘Catania’ below the text to the 18th century and believes it refers to the findspot. The name of the deceased, Μερκουριάλης, is a translation of the Latin Mercurialis, but it does not seem to be other parallels in Sicily. The dedicant is anonym but the type of kinship with the deceased is expressed: the lack of the article before γυνή is notable, but it has parallels (IGUR 958).

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
12/22/2022