Description:
White marble sarcophagus, decorated with columns and garlands, and with a recumbent figure on the lid, which is broken to right (W. 2.25 × H. 1.35 × D. 0.93). See now Isik 157
Text:
Inscribed (l.1) along front of lid (W. 1.50 × H. 0.07) and in tabella ansata (W. 0.29 × H. 0.45); apparently reused.
Letters:
Individually quite well designed, but less well cut and, in the tabella, poorly aligned with very uneven heights, 0.045-0.065; probably second to third centuries; Ϲ and for sigma, often oval omicron, v for hypsilon. Unconventional spelling in l.1.
Date:
Perhaps late second to early third centuries (lettering, nomenclature).
Findspot:
Necropolis, North-east: Cemetery
Original Location:
Necropolis, North-east
Last recorded location:
Museum (1978)
History of discovery:
Excavated by the NYU expedition in 1977 (77.140; sarcophagus catalogue 1)
Bibliography:
Published by Isik and Reynolds, no. 157
Text constituted from:
Transcription (Reynolds). This edition Reynolds (2007).
1 ἡ σορός ἐστιν κὲ ὁ τό[?πος ·· c. 6 ··]
2Διονυ-
3σίου
4 leaf δ´ leaf
5Διογε-
6νια-
7νοῦ
1ΗΣΟΡΟΣΕΣΤΙΝΚΕΟΤΟ[··· ······]
2ΔΙΟΝΥ
3ΣΙΟΥ
4 leaf Δ leaf
5ΔΙΟΓΕ
6ΝΙΑ
7ΝΟΥ
<ab>
<lb n="1" />
σορός
ἐστιν
κὲ
τό
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
πος
</supplied>
<gap reason="lost" extent="6" unit="character" extentmax="7" />
<lb n="2" />
Διονυ
<lb n="3" type="worddiv" />
σίου
<lb n="4" />
<g type="leaf" />
<num value="4" >
δ
</num>
<g type="leaf" />
<lb n="5" />
Διογε
<lb n="6" type="worddiv" />
νια
<lb n="7" type="worddiv" />
νοῦ
</ab>

Translation:

The sarcophagus and the plot [·· c. 6 ··] belong to Dionysios, fourth of the name from Diogenianos.

Commentary:

It is not certain that we have the owner's full name, since either a short Greek name or an abbreviated Roman praenomen and nomen, e.g. Μ(άρκου) Αὐρηλ(ίου), could have stood at the end of l.1. If the name was wholly Greek he presumably died before the Edict of Caracalla in A.D. 212; if he had Roman citizenship it may well have been after that, but his genealogy suggests (although it does not prove) that he was the first Roman citizen in the family.

Photographs:

Face (1978)
 Face (1978)

(cc) You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (You may need the EpiDoc DTD v. 5 to validate this file.)