ISic020733: ISic020733

Apparatus criticus

• Text after Mussinano 1970

Physical description

Support

Description

Attic Black-glazed cup.

Object type

cup

Material

ceramic

Condition

complete

Dimensions

height: 4.4 cm, dim: 10.5 cm, width: cm, depth: cm

Inscription

Layout

The text is scratched on the outside of the body of the vessel.

Text condition

complete text_condition, legible

Letter heights

Line 1: 4-5mm

Interlinear heights

Provenance

Place of origin

Herbessus (?)

Provenance found

Found during the excavations (Soprintendenza alle Antichità di Siracusa, 1966—1968) in the East archaic necropolis of Montagna di Marzo, on the bottom niche, East grave 31.

Map

Current location

Place

Agrigento, Italy

Repository

Museo Regionale Archeologico Pietro Griffo , 65646, n. sc. 39H

Autopsy

None

Map

Date

Evidence

archaeological-context, material-context, lettering

Text type

private (graffito), label indicating the content of the vessel (?)

commentary

The inscription is on one of the 14 inscribed vessels that were part of the grave goods of tomb East 31 of the archaic necropolis of Montagna di Marzo, part itself of a larger set of objects (on which see Albanese Procelli in Agostiniani, Albanese Procelli 2018, pp. 151-182) belonging to two different burials, one more recent than the other, inside a hypogeic chamber with a platform, which was used for the pottery (and not for the deceased, as in the other hypogeic tombs of this type). The burials were contained in two clay sarcophagi. The vessels found in the tomb can be divided into two groups (Agostiniani, in Agostiniani, Albanese Procelli 2018, 194): large Attic (imported) drinking vessels (cups, 'stemless cups', a skyphos, i.e. luxury vessels, typically related to the consumption of wine in the symposium); vessels of different types, all of a smaller size. To the first group belong 7 vases, of which 3 belong to the deceased in the front of the chamber, 4 to the second, in the back. On the latter group there are monorematic inscriptions: twice ϝολα (this document and ISic020732), three times ϝιταριον (two in its full form, ISic020735 and ISic020736, one with an abbreviated form, ϝι ISic020737), once γελε (ISic020734). Each word appears to be associated with a particular type of vessel (Agostiniani, in Agostiniani, Albanese 2018, p. 194): ϝολα to the Attic 'small stemless cup', ϝιταριον to the small colonial oinochoe, γελε to the Attic jug. This has led to the convincing argument that the inscribed words indicate the contents for which the vessels were intended, a hypothesis in some case confirmed by the root of the words inscribed. In the case of γελε, the root would in fact appears to be related to the Latin noun for "ice", 'as well as, above all, the word γέλα "πάχνη" attributed by Stephanus Byzantius to the language of the Opics and Sikels, and considered constitutive of the name of the city of Gela (and of its homonymous river).' (editor's translation of Agostiniani, in Agostiniani, Albanese 2018, p. 194). All of these inscriptions, with the exception of γελε, whose alphabetical types are not comparable to those of the other inscriptions, appear to have been written by the same hand. These types of inscriptions are of great interest, if they can be read as the actual label bearing the name of the content, because they might show an epigraphic use not otherwise known among the Greek documents of the island (an exception to this consideration might be a still unpublished document from Selinus of forthcoming publication, see ISic020875).

Bibliography

Digital editions

• TM: -
• EDR: -
• EDH: -
• EDCS: -
• PHI: -

Printed editions

• Luciano Agostiniani, Iscrizioni anelleniche di Sicilia. II. Sicilia Centrale e Meridionale, vol. 2, Forthcoming, at MMA?
• L. Mussinano, «Iscrizioni da Montagna di Marzo», Kokalos 16 (1970): 166–83, at no. 9, p. 176-177, fig. 9 and pl. XXIX, fig. 1
• Giacomo Manganaro, Sikelika: studi di antichità e di epigrafia della Sicilia greca, Biblioteca di QUCC 8 (Pisa, Roma: Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici internazionali, 1999), at no. IX, p. 22, fig. 40

Discussion

• Luciano Agostiniani e R.M. Albanese Procelli, «La tomba Est 31 di Montagna di Marzo (Enna)», Kokalos 52 (2015): 17–49, at figs. 12, 22
• Luciano Agostiniani e M.R. Albanese Procelli, «Montagna di Marzo (Piazza Armerina): la tomba Est 31», Cronache di archeologia e di storia dell’arte 37 (2018): 151–208, at 186, 190, 194, fig. 31

Citation and editorial status

Editor

Jonathan Prag

Principal contributor

Valentina Mignosa

Contributors

• Jonathan Prag
• Valentina Mignosa
• James Chartrand
• Michael Metcalfe
• system
• Simona Stoyanova

Last revision

10/14/2021