Description:
White marble sarcophagus W. 2.00 × H. 0.78 × D. 0.81 with a tabella ansata, flanked by garlands. For further description see Isik 142.
Text:
Inscribed in the upper two thirds of the tabella, impinging on all mouldings. The text must have begun above, perhaps on the lid or the upper rim of the chest.
Letters:
Poorly designed, cut and aligned, possibly of the late third century, perhaps the fourth; uneven heights, ave. 0.013, but rising to 0.025 sporadically; ε for epsilon, lunate sigma, ω for omega. There is a gauche attempt at artistry, perhaps in that six alphas have been placed one directly below the other on the left-hand moulding in ll. 3-8, certainly in that the last two lines are laid out with some attempt at symmetry. Unconventional spellings in ll. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7.
Date:
Monument: mid third century (Isik). Text: Probably fourth century (lettering, spelling, unit of reckoning, size of fine).
Findspot:
City, Village: 'Cour de l'immeuble aux escaliers de marbre' (Gaudin)
Original Location:
Necropolis
Last recorded location:
Museum (1977)
History of discovery:
Recorded by K&R (KIII.41, Abklatsch 41); by Gaudin (170); by the MAMA expedition; by the NYU expedition
Bibliography:
Published from Gaudin's squeeze, T. Reinach, REG 19, (1906) 274-6, no. 184; from the MAMA records, supplemented by the notes of Kubitschek and Reichel, J.M.R. Cormack, MAMA VIII. 578, whence McCabe PHI Aphrodisias 576 and a comment by Roueché, Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity (London, 1989) p. 192; by Reynolds and Isik 142.
Text constituted from:
Transcription (Reynolds); publications; Kubitschek This edition Reynolds (2007).
1 [·· ? ·· ?ἕτερος δὲ οὐδεὶς ἕξει]
2[ἐξ]ουσίαν ἐ[ν]θ̣άψ[ε ?τινὰ ἐν τῇ σορῷ]
3[ἢ ἐκθά]ψε ἐπεὶ [ἔσ]τ̣ε ἀσεβὴς κ[αὶ]sic
4[ἐπά]ρατος [καὶ] τυμβωρύχο[ς]
5 κ̣αὶ προσαποτ̣ε̣[ίσ]ει [τῷ ἱε]-
6ρ̣ω̣τάτῳ ταμίῳ ἀργυρί[ου]
7 μ̣υριάδας τρίς τῆς ἐπιγρ[α]-
8φ̣ῆ̣ς̣ ἀπ<ε>τέθη ἐς̣ τὸ̣
9 ἀρχεῖον̣ ἀντί-
10γραφον
1[ - - - ·····················]
2[··]ΟΥΣΙΑΝΕ[·]·ΑΨ[· ············]
3[·····]ΨΕΕΠΕΙ[··]·ΕΑΣΕΒΗΣΚ[··]SIC
4[···]ΡΑΤΟΣ[···]ΤΥΜΒΩΡΥΧΟ[·]
5·ΑΙΠΡΟΣΑΠΟ··[··]ΕΙ[····]
6··ΤΑΤΩΤΑΜΙΩΑΡΓΥΡΙ[··]
7·ΥΡΙΑΔΑΣΤΡΙΣΤΗΣΕΠΙΓΡ[·]
8···ΑΠΤΕΘΗΕ·Τ·
9ΑΡΧΕΙΟ·ΑΝΤΙ
10ΓΡΑΦΟΝ
<ab>
<lb n="1" />
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character" dim="left" />
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
ἕτερος
δὲ
οὐδεὶς
ἕξει
</supplied>
<lb n="2" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἐξ
</supplied>
ουσίαν
<supplied reason="lost" >
ν
</supplied>
<unclear reason="damage" >
θ
</unclear>
άψ
<supplied reason="lost" >
ε
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" cert="low" >
τινὰ
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἐν
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
τῇ
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
σορῷ
</supplied>
<lb n="3" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἐκθά
</supplied>
ψε
ἐπεὶ
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἔσ
</supplied>
<unclear reason="damage" >
τ
</unclear>
ε
ἀσεβὴς
κ
<supplied reason="lost" >
αὶ
</supplied>
sic
<lb n="4" />
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἐπά
</supplied>
ρατος
<supplied reason="lost" >
καὶ
</supplied>
τυμβωρύχο
<supplied reason="lost" >
ς
</supplied>
<lb n="5" />
<unclear reason="damage" >
κ
</unclear>
αὶ
προσαπο
<unclear reason="damage" >
τε
</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ίσ
</supplied>
ει
<supplied reason="lost" >
τῷ
</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost" >
ἱε
</supplied>
<lb n="6" type="worddiv" />
<unclear reason="damage" >
ρω
</unclear>
τάτῳ
ταμίῳ
ἀργυρί
<supplied reason="lost" >
ου
</supplied>
<lb n="7" />
<unclear reason="damage" >
μ
</unclear>
υριάδας
τρίς
τῆς
ἐπιγρ
<supplied reason="lost" >
α
</supplied>
<lb n="8" type="worddiv" />
<unclear reason="damage" >
φῆς
</unclear>
ἀπ
<supplied reason="omitted" >
ε
</supplied>
τέθη
<unclear reason="damage" >
ς
</unclear>
τ
<unclear reason="damage" >
</unclear>
<lb n="9" />
ἀρχεῖο
<unclear reason="damage" >
ν
</unclear>
ἀντί
<lb n="10" type="worddiv" />
γραφον
</ab>

Apparatus

l. 5, there does not seem to be a space for a star = denaria at the end

l. 7, ἀποτέθη lapis.

Other additional letters read here and changes in layout proposed make no difference to the sense of what Cormack printed, except in ll.4-5 where a normal text is offered instead of his slightly aberrant προσαποτεισάτω.

Translation:

- - - ? but no one else shall have the] right to bury [? anyone in the sarcophagus or to remove anyone from it], since (whoever does so) shall be (considered) sacrilegious and accursed and a tomb-breaker, and furthermore shall pay to the sacred treasury (at Rome) three myriads of silver. A copy of the inscribed text was deposited in the archive.

Commentary:

The size of the fine and the calculation in myriads suggest a date in the fourth century; the lettering and spelling might be held to conform. The description of the archive as τὸ ἀρχεῖον is also unusual (although not unparalleled), but not dateable at present.

Photographs:

Tabella (1977)
 Tabella (1977)
View (2002)
 View (2002)

Representations:

Kubitschek notebook III, 41
 Kubitschek notebook III, 41

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