ISic020917: Funerary urn of Nouia Oppia

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
ISic020917
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
funerary
Object type
lekanis
Status
No data
Links
View in current site

Edition

Loading...

Apparatus criticus

  • Text after Arena 2021;
  • 1: on the vase: ΝΟΥΡΑ

Physical description

Support

Description
The lid of a large fragmentary lekanis, with a truncated cone profile. The lekanis body is 31 cm high, 42.5cm in diameter (40 cm internal diameter). The lid is 48.5 cm in diameter.
Object type
lekanis
Material
ceramic
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 31 cm, dim: 48.5 cm, width: cm, depth: cm

Inscription

Layout
The text is incised, seemingly after firing, on the lower part of the main surface of the lid, over a length of 25 cm, in a single line, just below a painted red band which circles the lid.
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Line 1: 30mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Messana
Provenance found
Excavated in 1971, found in a stone built chamber tomb in Largo Avignone, Messina
Map

Current location

Place
Messina, Italy
Repository
Soprintendenza Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Messina , ME 31885
Autopsy
in store
Map

Date

second half of the 3rd century BCE (250 BC – 200 BC)
Evidence
archaeological-context, nomenclature

Text type

funerary

commentary

This lekane is one of at least 7 cinerary containers found in a monumental single-room chamber tomb with stepped dromos entrance, within the hellenistic necropolis on the south side of ancient Messana (area of via Cesara Battisti). The tomb itself, with 3 stone couches, appears to have been constructed for wealthy inhumation burials in the fourth or early third century BCE. It appears that the tomb was re-used in the third century for multiple cremation burials, before subsequently suffering a collapse; a later burial (1st century BCE) in the dromos suggests a terminus ante quem for the period of re-use. Only one of the other cinerary containers preserves a text on it (ISic020918), painted rather than incised on a different and probably slightly later type of vessel; but most of the vessels are so fragmentary that it is difficult to read much significance into this. Both this and ISic020918 record women with Oscan nomenclature, albeit written in Greek. This example preserves the Oscan style of nomenclature (praenomen and gentilicium), whereas the slightly later ISic020918 is arguably more hellenised in form, with Greek genitives applied.

Bibliography

Digital editions
  • TM: -
  • EDR: -
  • EDH: -
  • EDCS: -
  • PHI: -
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
3/6/2022