ISic003499: Fragmentary Greek inscription

I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana; photo J. Prag 2019-10-01
I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana; photo J. Prag 2019-10-01
ID
ISic003499
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
unknown
Object type
plaque
Status
edited
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy notes and photograph;
  • 1: Possible letter trace; not recorded by Manganaro
  • 2: Lapis: ÎŁ or Δ; Manganaro; Εἰσ[---]
  • 4: Manganaro: Αἰδο[---]

Physical description

Support

Description
Fragment of a marble plaque, intact on the left side, but broken on the other sides. The rear is cut straigtht but only roughly finished.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Object condition
fragment
Dimensions
height: 13.5 cm, width: 13.4 cm, depth: 4.3 cm

Inscription

Layout
Traces of three, possibly four lines, with consisent left margin.
Text condition
incomplete
Technique
chiselled
Pigment
No data
Lettering

Simpy cut letters with terminal serifs. Epsilon with uneven middle length bar; upsilon as V not Y.

Letter heights
Line 2-3: 27-30mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 4: 6-8mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Syracusae
Provenance found
Original discovery not recorded.

Current location

Place
Siracusa, Sicilia
Repository
Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi
Autopsy
2018-09-18 (Santini), Magazzino B, cassa 52
Map

Date

Hellenistic (?) (300 BC - 1 BC)
Evidence
No data

Text type

unknown

commentary

Manganaro presents this, on the basis of a photograph, as being part of a list of Greek names, implicitly of hellenistic date. However, the size and form of the letters (notably the V-shaped upsilon) strongly suggest that this is more likely to be a fragment of a later, Roman period, funerary inscription. The final letter of line 1 is either a four-bar sigma, or, perhaps more likely, a delta; the traces in line 4 are not easily compatible with Manganaro's reading, particularly the fourth letter, which is not an omicron, and is only really compatible with a lunate sigma (which would in turn imply delta in line 1), while the extension of the oblique hasta on the third letter suggests an alpha, in contrast to the initial lamda.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
2/17/2026