8.263. Epitaph of Athanasios

Description:
Four joining fragments of a white marble plaque (H. 0.40 x W. 0.42 × D. 0.09)
Text:
Inscribed on both sides within a raised and moulded edge. On face a the moulding is slightly more elaborate, and the lettering, which is more regular than on face b, is surrounded by an incised margin; the last letter of 1.4 interrupts the margin, which seems to have been cut after the letters.
Letters:
Clear and not overly irregular, with square epsilon and sigma, but lunate omega. Face a: 0.01-0.015. ll. 13-15 0.02; abbreviations in 1. 15: ΙΣ. ΧΡΣ. ΠΑ.. Face b: 0.15-0.02. On both sides there are diaeretic dots on some initial vowels.
Date:
Fourth to sixth centuries or later (lettering, content)
Findspot:
Theatre (two fragments); North-east Nymphaeum (one fragment); stray (one fragment).
Original Location:
Unknown.
Last recorded location:
Museum.
History of discovery:
Recorded by the NYU in 1968, 1969 and 1977 (68.354, 69.30, 69.31, and an unnumbered fragment).
Bibliography:
Published by Roueché, ALA 163a whence McCabe PHI Aphrodisias 744, 745.
Text constituted from:
Transcription (Roueché). This edition Roueché (2007).
a
1ἐγὼ Ἀθανάσιος ὁ πάντα λιτουρ-
2γήσας ἐν τῇδε τῇ ἐμαυτοῦ πα-
3τρίδι καὶ πολλὰ ἔτη ἀποδημή-
4σας καὶ πολ̣[λὰ] ἔ̣θνη εἱστορήσας
5καὶ πλε[ύσας π]ᾶσαν θάλασ-
6σαν ἕω[ς Ὠκε]ανοῦ καὶ ἰδὼν
7πᾶν γέν̣[ος ἀ]νθρώπων καὶ σω-
8θεὶς ηὐ̣[ξάμη]ν τῷ θεῷ stop ἐλ
9θεῖ̣ν [?ἐν τῇ π]ατρίδι μου καὶ
10ταφῆνα̣[ι παρὰ] τὰ ἴχνη τῶ[ν]
11ἁγείων [?μαρτύρ]ων ἵν[?α τοῦ]
12παρακλ[?ήτου ·· ? ·· ἐν ἡ]-
13μέρᾳ κρε[ίσεως ·· ? ··]
14τῷ ἀνα[·· ? ··]
15Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χρ(ιστὸ)ς Πα(τὴρ) [·· ? ··]
16τὴν ψυχ[ὴν ·· ? ··]
b
1ἐνθάδε κεῖμαι ἐγὼ Ἀθανάσιος
2ὁ πολλὰ ἔτη ἀποδημήσας καὶ
3πολλὰ ἔθνη ἱσ[τορήσας] καὶ πᾶ-
4σαν θάλασσαν π̣[λεύσ]ας ἕ-
5ως Ὠκεανοῦ κα[ὶ ἰδὼ]ν πᾶν
6γένος ἀνθρώπ[?ων stop κ]αὶ σω-
7[θ]ε̣ὶς ἠυξάμην τ̣[ῷ Θ]ε̣ῷ ἐλ-
8[θεῖν] ἐ̣ν π̣[ατρίδι μ]ου καὶ τα-
9[φῆναι παρὰ τὰ ἴχνη] τῶν ἁγί-
10[ων ?μαρτύρων ?ἵνα] τ̣οῦ παρα-
11[?κλήτου ·· ? ·· ἐν] ἡ̣μέρᾳ κρί-
12[σεως ·· ? ··] v.
a
1ΕΓΩΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΣΟΠΑΝΤΑΛΙΤΟΥΡ
2ΓΗΣΑΣΕΝΤΗΔΕΤΗΕΜΑΥΤΟΥΠΑ
3ΤΡΙΔΙΚΑΙΠΟΛΛΑΕΤΗΑΠΟΔΗΜΗ
4ΣΑΣΚΑΙΠΟ·[··]·ΘΝΗΕΙΣΤΟΡΗΣΑΣ
5ΚΑΙΠΛΕ[·····]ΑΣΑΝΘΑΛΑΣ
6ΣΑΝΕΩ[····]ΑΝΟΥΚΑΙΙΔΩΝ
7ΠΑΝΓΕ·[···]ΝΘΡΩΠΩΝΚΑΙΣΩ
8ΘΕΙΣΗ·[····]ΝΤΩΘΕΩ stop ΕΛ
9ΘΕ·Ν[·····]ΑΤΡΙΔΙΜΟΥΚΑΙ
10ΤΑΦΗΝ·[· ····]ΤΑΙΧΝΗΤΩ[·]
11ΑΓΕΙΩΝ[······]ΩΝΙΝ[· ···]
12ΠΑΡΑΚΛ[···· - - - ···]
13ΜΕΡΑΚΡΕ[····· - - - ]
14ΤΩΑΝΑ[ - - - ]
15ΙΣΧΡΣΠΑ[ - - - ]
16ΤΗΝΨΥΧ[·· - - - ]
b
1ΕΝΘΑΔΕΚΕΙΜΑΙΕΓΩΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΣ
2ΟΠΟΛΛΑΕΤΗΑΠΟΔΗΜΗΣΑΣΚΑΙ
3ΠΟΛΛΑΕΘΝΗΙΣ[·······]ΚΑΙΠΑ
4ΣΑΝΘΑΛΑΣΣΑΝ·[····]ΑΣΕ
5ΩΣΩΚΕΑΝΟΥΚΑ[····]ΝΠΑΝ
6ΓΕΝΟΣΑΝΘΡΩΠ[·· ···]ΑΙΣΩ
7[·]·ΙΣΗΥΞΑΜΗΝ·[··]·ΩΕΛ
8[····]·Ν·[·······]ΟΥΚΑΙΤΑ
9[····· ············]ΤΩΝΑΓΙ
10[·· ········ ···]·ΟΥΠΑΡΑ
11[······ - - - ··]·ΜΕΡΑΚΡΙ
12[···· - - - ] 
<div type="textpart_section" n="a" >
<ab>
<lb n="1" />
ἐγὼ
Ἀθανάσιος
ὁ
πάντα
λιτουρ
<lb n="2" type="worddiv" />
γήσας
ἐν
τῇδε
τῇ
ἐμαυτοῦ
πα
<lb n="3" type="worddiv" />
τρίδι
καὶ
πολλὰ
ἔτη
ἀποδημή
<lb n="4" type="worddiv" />
σας
καὶ
πο
<unclear reason="damage" >
λ
</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost" >
λὰ
</supplied>
<unclear reason="damage" >
ἔ
</unclear>
θνη
εἱστορήσας
<lb n="5" />
καὶ
πλε
<supplied reason="lost" >
ύσας
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
π
</supplied>
ᾶσαν
θάλασ
<lb n="6" type="worddiv" />
σαν
ἕω
<supplied reason="lost" >
ς
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
Ὠκε
</supplied>
ανοῦ
καὶ
ἰδὼν
<lb n="7" />
πᾶν
γέ
<unclear reason="damage" >
ν
</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ος
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἀ
</supplied>
νθρώπων
καὶ
σω
<lb n="8" type="worddiv" />
θεὶς
η
<unclear reason="damage" >
ὐ
</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ξάμη
</supplied>
ν
τῷ
θεῷ
<g type="stop" />
ἐλ
<lb n="9" type="worddiv" />
θε
<unclear reason="damage" >
ῖ
</unclear>
ν
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
ἐν
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
τῇ
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
π
</supplied>
ατρίδι
μου
καὶ
<lb n="10" />
ταφῆν
<unclear reason="damage" >
α
</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ι
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
παρὰ
</supplied>
τὰ
ἴχνη
τῶ
<supplied reason="lost" >
ν
</supplied>
<lb n="11" />
ἁγείων
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
μαρτύρ
</supplied>
ων
ἵν
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
α
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
τοῦ
</supplied>
<lb n="12" />
παρακλ
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
ήτου
</supplied>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character" dim="internal" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἐν
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἡ
</supplied>
<lb n="13" type="worddiv" />
μέρᾳ
κρε
<supplied reason="lost" >
ίσεως
</supplied>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character" dim="right" />
<lb n="14" />
τῷ
ἀνα
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character" dim="right" />
<lb n="15" />
<expan>
<abbr>
Ἰ
</abbr>
<supplied reason="abbreviation" >
ησοῦ
</supplied>
<abbr>
ς
</abbr>
</expan>
<expan>
<abbr>
Χρ
</abbr>
<supplied reason="abbreviation" >
ιστὸ
</supplied>
<abbr>
ς
</abbr>
</expan>
<expan>
<abbr>
Πα
</abbr>
<supplied reason="abbreviation" >
τὴρ
</supplied>
</expan>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character" dim="right" />
<lb n="16" />
τὴν
ψυχ
<supplied reason="lost" >
ὴν
</supplied>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character" dim="right" />
</ab>
</div>
<div type="textpart_section" n="b" >
<ab>
<lb n="1" />
ἐνθάδε
κεῖμαι
ἐγὼ
Ἀθανάσιος
<lb n="2" />
ὁ
πολλὰ
ἔτη
ἀποδημήσας
καὶ
<lb n="3" />
πολλὰ
ἔθνη
ἱσ
<supplied reason="lost" >
τορήσας
</supplied>
καὶ
πᾶ
<lb n="4" type="worddiv" />
σαν
θάλασσαν
<unclear reason="damage" >
π
</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost" >
λεύσ
</supplied>
ας
ἕ
<lb n="5" type="worddiv" />
ως
Ὠκεανοῦ
κα
<supplied reason="lost" >
ὶ
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἰδὼ
</supplied>
ν
πᾶν
<lb n="6" />
γένος
ἀνθρώπ
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
ων
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
<g type="stop" />
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
κ
</supplied>
αὶ
σω
<lb n="7" type="worddiv" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
θ
</supplied>
<unclear reason="damage" >
ε
</unclear>
ὶς
ἠυξάμην
<unclear reason="damage" >
τ
</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ῷ
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
Θ
</supplied>
<unclear reason="damage" >
ε
</unclear>
ῷ
ἐλ
<lb n="8" type="worddiv" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
θεῖν
</supplied>
<unclear reason="damage" >
ἐ
</unclear>
ν
<unclear reason="damage" >
π
</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ατρίδι
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
μ
</supplied>
ου
καὶ
τα
<lb n="9" type="worddiv" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
φῆναι
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
παρὰ
τὰ
ἴχνη
</supplied>
τῶν
ἁγί
<lb n="10" type="worddiv" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
ων
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
μαρτύρων
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
ἵνα
</supplied>
<unclear reason="damage" >
τ
</unclear>
οῦ
παρα
<lb n="11" type="worddiv" />
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
κλήτου
</supplied>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character" dim="internal" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἐν
</supplied>
<unclear reason="damage" >
ἡ
</unclear>
μέρᾳ
κρί
<lb n="12" type="worddiv" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
σεως
</supplied>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character" dim="internal" />
<space extent="1" unit="character" dim="horizontal" />
</ab>
</div>

Translation:

a. I, Athanasios, who performed every civic duty in this, my own country, and lived abroad for many years, and visited many peoples, and sailed every sea as far as Ocean, and saw every race of men, and was kept safe, I prayed to God to reach my country and to be buried by the traces of the holy [?martyrs], ?so that [?I should have an advocate in] the day of judgement [·· ? ··] Jesus Christ, Father, [·· ? ·· receive my] soul [·· ? ··]

b. Here I lie, Athanasios, who lived abroad for many years, and visited many peoples. and sailed every sea as far as Ocean, and saw every race of men, and was kept safe, I prayed to God to [?reach my country] and [?to be buried by the traces] of the holy [?martyrs ?so that I should have an advocate in] the day of judgement [·· ? ··].

Commentary:

See discussion at ala2004 IX.27.

Photographs:

a: Face (1977)
 a: Face (1977)
b: Face (1977)
 b: Face (1977)

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