Support: Small white rectangular marble base broken on the right and slightly chipped off at upper and left edges; left and bottom sides preserved (w: 0.113 × h: 0.045 × d: 0.004).

Layout: Inscribed on front face in three lines with axial layout; traces of guidelines on top, bottom, and also at middle of the letters.

Letters: 0.017 at line 1; 0.09 at line 2; 0.08 at line 3; slight serifs, alpha with dropped bar, kappa with rather large oblique bars, pi with projecting upper bar; without punctuation.

Date: Middle decades of the second century BC (lettering).

Findspot: Found in 2005 by M. Luni at Cyrene ➚: Southern Extra-Mural Sacred zone, West of Theatre 5, in a half-rock-cut and half-built oikos with niches excavated in the rocky walls.

Place of origin: Findspot.

Last recorded location: Cyrene Museum, Storeroom of the Italian missions, T 05 1441. Not seen by IGCyr team.

Text constituted from: Transcription from photograph (SMM).

Apparatus

French translation

Kallis [fils d'Un tel] (scil. a consacré ce monument) sur prescription de Dio[nysos?].

English translation

Kallis [son of So-and-so] (scil. dedicated this monument) as prescribed by Dio[nysos?].

Italian translation

Kallis [figlio del tale] (scil. ha dedicato questo monumento) su ordine di Dio[niso?].

Commentary

The god's name at line 3 is partly lost. Whereas Διός or Διοσκούρων might be restored, the name of Dionysos fits the gap best. Ties between Demeter and Dionysos are attested both by Callimachus and in inscriptions of Roman time (see the commentary at Marengo 2010 and Luni 2010 and IRCyr2020 C.498). Such ties explain the presence of a theatre inside an enclosure dedicated mainly to Demeter and Kore.

For line 1, the usual formula has a name and father's name. Given the space available, it seems better to restore the short name Kallis than a compound beginning with Καλλισ-.

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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.

Images

Fig. 1. Face of igcyr113800 Dedication to Dionysos

Maps