Support: Top left angle of a marble pillar with a projecting moulding on top, broken off on all sides except at left (w: 0.11 × h: 0.095 × d: 0.185), plausibly belonging to the support of IGCyr062810², IGCyr062820², IGCyr062830², IGCyr062840², IGCyr062850² and perhaps also IGCyr097150².

Layout: Inscribed on front face under the moulding (w: 0.08 × h: 0.095).

Letters: 0.007; small serifs, large omicron, non slanting sigma, phi with flattened loop.

Date: Between 139 and 132 BC (Rosamilia, who prefers this date to 124-116 BCxs) (lettering, prosopography).

Findspot: Found before 1960 at Cyrene ➚: exact findspot unrecorded.

Place of origin: Findspot.

Last recorded location: Cyrene Museum, 91. Seen by Pugliese Carratelli in 1960 in Shahat: Cyrene Museum. Seen by C. Dobias-Lalou in 1979 at the same place.

Text constituted from: Transcription from stone (CDL).

Apparatus

French translation

Prêtre [Untel fils d'un tel], le huitième jour du mois [---] déclinant.

Lettre [---].

Aratomé[nès ---].

English translation

Priest (scil. So-and-so son of So-and-so), the 8th of the waning month [---].

Letter [---].

Aratome[nes ---].

Italian translation

Sacerdote [il tale figlio d'il tale], l'ottavo giorno del mese [---] declinante.

Lettera [---].

Aratome[nes ---].

Commentary

On behalf of the type of marble and dimensions Dobias-Lalou had already suspected at IGCyr that this fragment might be the upper left part of the block bearing IGCyr062800², IGCyr062810², IGCyr062820², IGCyr062830², IGCyr062840², IGCyr062850²; the letter-size and lettering seemed to match well the poor rests belonging to IGCyr062800² and would give the heading of the whole dossier. We now follow Rosamilia 2023, who deserves credit for turning down the supposed threefold dating (in Cyreanean mode and in the two systems of the Lagid administration). He reads at line 4 the name of a well-known high-rank officer of Ptolemy VIII, Aratomenes son of Ptolemaios, from Alexandria, who might act here as στρατηγός responsible in Cyrenaica. His name would stay here as the first word of the letter in a formula such as 'Aratomenes [to the Cyrenaeans]', whereas line 3 would be the heading of the letter, such as 'Letter [of Aratomenes the strategos]'.

As this convincing reconstruction could not be checked on the stones, we choose to keep the number and place of this fragment in the collection.

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All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain a link back to DOI: https://doi.org/10.60760/unibo/igcyrgvcyr2 and the filename (IGCyr000000 or GVCyr000), as well as the year of consultation.

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