II.1.1 300. Commercial(?) notation, ca. 500 B.C.E.

Monument

Type

Fragmentary ring base. 

Material

Clay. 

Dimensions (cm)

H., W., Th., Diam.8.7 (inv).

Additional description

Attica, stemmed dish, ca. 500 B.C.E. (Agora XII, type 968). Glossed top of the flat ring base. Moulded stem between base and bowl: partly glossed. Underside: glossed, with reserved resting surface. 

Find place

Berezan. 

Find context

Unknown. 

Find circumstances

Found in 1900, excavations of G.L. Skadovsky. 

Modern location

Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. 

Institution and inventory

The State Hermitage Museum, Б.97. 

Autopsy

August 2016. 

Epigraphic field

Position

Foot, underside, funnel, slope. 

Lettering

Graffito. Omicron smaller than beta. Written vertically in relation to the upright position of the pot; counterclockwise. Clear confdently inscribed letters. 

Letterheights (cm)

1.0-1.2

Text

Category

Commercial(?) notation. 

Date

Ca. 500 B.C.E. 

Dating criteria

Ceramic date. 

Edition

Diplomatic

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>
   </ab>
   </div>
 
Apparatus criticus

Translation

 

Commentary

ΒΟ. This is clearly an abbreviation. Found in Borysthenes, such combination of letters immediately calls to mind the city ethnic, as well as the name of the god Boreas who was worshipped at least in Olbia. Is a theonym possible? Personal names in BO are also known... In Borysthenes... In Olbia... In Ionia and other Ionian colonies... Most likely, the text was written on the complete pot, but inscription on a sherd cannot be excluded - the text is centered on the fragment relative to the breaks and there is space left on either side of the letters, telling us that the inscription is fully preserved.

 

Images

 

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