DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3332#0066
i;-2
NAUKEATIS.
CHAPTER VIII.
INSCRIPTIONS.
(51) It will be as well to state at once that
the inscriptions found in 1885-6 are not, in
importance and antiquity, comparable to those
produced by the previous season's excavations :
Jind that they do not throw any light upon the
questions that have given rise to some contro-
versy. That controversy cannot be ignored or
passed over; but since no new facts areforthcom-
ing which bear directly upon it, to deal with it
here would only complicate its issues, andconfuse
the discussion of the new matter now before us.
In the final chapter a few words will have to be
said as to the details of the epigraphic evidence,
and as to the light they throw on the age of
the Greek colony at Naukratis. But at present
we are only concerned with the interpretation
and the transcription of the inscriptions found
in the course of the last season. Here again
the temenos of Aphrodite has yielded by far the
most interesting and numerous collection. The
circumstances of their discovery and the pot-
tery on which they are incised have already
been described. The inscriptions themselves
will be found upon the large folding plate
(PL XXI.).1 They are mostly in the Ionic alpha-
bet ; the only exception that calls for special
notice is that of the inscriptions 86-93, which
are, as we shall see, in all probability Lesbian.
If so, they are of great interest, and are by far
the most important epigraphical discovery of
the year at Naukratis : for hitherto no Lesbian
inscription has been known previous to the
1 The inscriptions have, with a few exceptions mentioned,
been traced directly from the originals, and then copied by
a photographic process. The forms of the letters may there-
fore be relied on as accurate.
general adoption of the Ionic alphabet. Hence
both the letters and the dialect are important.
But all such matters can best be discussed in
immediate connection with the inscriptions to
which they refer; I will therefore proceed at
once to the transcription of these, adding such
notes as may seem necessary or desirable in
each case. I do not think I have omitted any
inscriptions that are of interest either from their
substance or the forms of their letters. Mere
repetitions of dvedrjKev and rfj'A^poSmj were
obviously not worth recording.
INSCRIPTIONS PEOH THE TEMENOS OP APHEODITE.
Ornate bowls, painted both inside and out
with animals in red on a white ground. (PL
VI.) 701-705.
701.a ScocrrpaTos p dvedrjKev T^poBiTT).
The inscription is also visible on PL VI. ¥e
find that between the article and noun hiatus,
crasis, and prodelision are all allowed; here
the second is found (TH<I>); we might equally
well have tt} 'A^poSiVij (THIA<I>), or rfj '<f>po-
SCtt) (THI<I>). I shall not again notice these
varieties when they occur.
702-5. These may all be parts of a dedication
precisely similar to 701; they are all from dif-
ferent fragments of the same bowl, of which
only a few scattered pieces were found. 705 is
on the outer rim, the rest inside. 702 has much
older forms than 701; but the bowl was similar,
and the name of the dedicator seems to have
been the same in both cases. But we cannot
'' I begin with this number in order that these inscriptions
may be consecutive with the series in Nauk. I, numbered
1-700.
NAUKEATIS.
CHAPTER VIII.
INSCRIPTIONS.
(51) It will be as well to state at once that
the inscriptions found in 1885-6 are not, in
importance and antiquity, comparable to those
produced by the previous season's excavations :
Jind that they do not throw any light upon the
questions that have given rise to some contro-
versy. That controversy cannot be ignored or
passed over; but since no new facts areforthcom-
ing which bear directly upon it, to deal with it
here would only complicate its issues, andconfuse
the discussion of the new matter now before us.
In the final chapter a few words will have to be
said as to the details of the epigraphic evidence,
and as to the light they throw on the age of
the Greek colony at Naukratis. But at present
we are only concerned with the interpretation
and the transcription of the inscriptions found
in the course of the last season. Here again
the temenos of Aphrodite has yielded by far the
most interesting and numerous collection. The
circumstances of their discovery and the pot-
tery on which they are incised have already
been described. The inscriptions themselves
will be found upon the large folding plate
(PL XXI.).1 They are mostly in the Ionic alpha-
bet ; the only exception that calls for special
notice is that of the inscriptions 86-93, which
are, as we shall see, in all probability Lesbian.
If so, they are of great interest, and are by far
the most important epigraphical discovery of
the year at Naukratis : for hitherto no Lesbian
inscription has been known previous to the
1 The inscriptions have, with a few exceptions mentioned,
been traced directly from the originals, and then copied by
a photographic process. The forms of the letters may there-
fore be relied on as accurate.
general adoption of the Ionic alphabet. Hence
both the letters and the dialect are important.
But all such matters can best be discussed in
immediate connection with the inscriptions to
which they refer; I will therefore proceed at
once to the transcription of these, adding such
notes as may seem necessary or desirable in
each case. I do not think I have omitted any
inscriptions that are of interest either from their
substance or the forms of their letters. Mere
repetitions of dvedrjKev and rfj'A^poSmj were
obviously not worth recording.
INSCRIPTIONS PEOH THE TEMENOS OP APHEODITE.
Ornate bowls, painted both inside and out
with animals in red on a white ground. (PL
VI.) 701-705.
701.a ScocrrpaTos p dvedrjKev T^poBiTT).
The inscription is also visible on PL VI. ¥e
find that between the article and noun hiatus,
crasis, and prodelision are all allowed; here
the second is found (TH<I>); we might equally
well have tt} 'A^poSiVij (THIA<I>), or rfj '<f>po-
SCtt) (THI<I>). I shall not again notice these
varieties when they occur.
702-5. These may all be parts of a dedication
precisely similar to 701; they are all from dif-
ferent fragments of the same bowl, of which
only a few scattered pieces were found. 705 is
on the outer rim, the rest inside. 702 has much
older forms than 701; but the bowl was similar,
and the name of the dedicator seems to have
been the same in both cases. But we cannot
'' I begin with this number in order that these inscriptions
may be consecutive with the series in Nauk. I, numbered
1-700.