Description:
White marble sarcophagus W. 2.35 × H. 1.00 × D. 1.03 and lid W. 2.385 × H. 0.42 × D. 1.12. Decorated with victories and putti holding garlands, with a bust above each garland. In the centre, a tabella ansata; for a full description, see Isik 137.
Text:
Inscribed on the tabella.
Letters:
Poorly designed, under the influence of cursive forms, 0.03; lunate epsilon, sigma, cursive omega
Date:
Perhaps middle of the third century (lettering, formulae).
Findspot:
Necropolis, South: south of the south city wall, a little way east of the area excavated in 1975, south of 8.114 (=MAMA 424)
Original Location:
Necropolis
Last recorded location:
Fragments in the Museum.
History of discovery:
Recorded by Gaudin (153); by the NYU expedition; broken in the 1990s.
Bibliography:
Published from Gaudin's squeeze, T. Reinach, REG 19 (1906), 264-265, no. 159, whence M.Squarciapino, La scuola di Afrodisia (Rome, 1943) 11, no. 3; from the MAMA records, J.M.R. Cormack, MAMA VIII. 574, whence BullEp 1961.666, McCabe PHI Aphrodisias 450 ; from the stone, K.T.Erim and J.M.Reynolds, 'Sculptors of Aphrodisias in the inscriptions of the city', Festschrift Jale Inan (Istanbul, 1989), 517-538, no. 24, whence SEG 1990.944; Reynolds and Isik 137.
Text constituted from:
Transcription (Reynolds); publications. This edition Reynolds (1991).
1 ζῶσιν
2 αὑτή ἐστιν ἡ
3 σορὸς καὶ τὸ ὑ-
4ποκάτω μνῆ-
5μα Μάρκου Αὐρ-
6ηλίου Γλύκω-
7νος ἀγαλματο-
8γλύφου καὶ Ἀλε-
9ξάνδρου πιμε-
10νταρίου leaf
1ΖΩΣΙΝ
2ΑΥΤΗΕΣΤΙΝΗ
3ΣΟΡΟΣΚΑΙΤΟΥ
4ΠΟΚΑΤΩΜΝΗ
5ΜΑΜΑΡΚΟΥΑΥΡ
6ΗΛΙΟΥΓΛΥΚΩ
7ΝΟΣΑΓΑΛΜΑΤΟ
8ΓΛΥΦΟΥΚΑΙΑΛΕ
9ΞΑΝΔΡΟΥΠΙΜΕ
10ΝΤΑΡΙΟΥ leaf
<ab>
<lb n="1" />
ζῶσιν
<lb n="2" />
αὑτή
ἐστιν
<lb n="3" />
σορὸς
καὶ
τὸ
<lb n="4" type="worddiv" />
ποκάτω
μνῆ
<lb n="5" type="worddiv" />
μα
Μάρκου
Αὐρ
<lb n="6" type="worddiv" />
ηλίου
Γλύκω
<lb n="7" type="worddiv" />
νος
ἀγαλματο
<lb n="8" type="worddiv" />
γλύφου
καὶ
Ἀλε
<lb n="9" type="worddiv" />
ξάνδρου
πιμε
<lb n="10" type="worddiv" />
νταρίου
<g type="leaf" />
</ab>

Translation:

They are (still) living. This is the sarcophagus, and the memorial monument below it, of Marcus Aurelius Glykon, sculptor, and Alexandros, dealer in paints (and/or unguents).

Commentary:

The inscription, which was cut when the two owners were alive, concerns, as many do, a tomb consisting of a sarcophagus standing on a substructure, but omits the normal detailed provisions for its use and for protection against misuse. The combination of two craftsmen - one who made statues, with a pigmentarius, who perhaps dealt in paint, is of real interest, reminding us of the widespread use of paint on ancient sculptures. It suggests a moderate social - and no doubt artistic - level. The sculptor had Roman citizenship, probably as a result of the Edict of Caracalla, but does not cite any ancestors; the pigmentarius is not credited with citizenship, and was surely a dependent of the sculptor - fosterchild or perhaps freedman.

Photographs:
none.

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