Support: Right part of a white marble block, re-cut at right and at the upper left angle, possibly also at back; broken off at left and below; a dowel hole on the upper right edge and a circular hole for attachment at back (w: 0.24 × h: 0.19 × d: 0.08).

Layout: Inscribed on the face in five lines, symmetrically displayed along the vertical axis with varying spaces between letters.

Letters: 0.02 with small serifs; large circular letters, non-slanting sigma, phi with oval loop.

Date: Probably first half of second century BC (lettering).

Findspot: Found in 1972 at Cyrene ➚: re-used in the Byzantine tower built across the Street of Battos.

Place of origin: Cyrene ➚: presumably from the agora.

Last recorded location: Cyrene Museum, 1835. Seen by C. Dobias-Lalou in 1993 and again in 2001 in Shahat: Cyrene Museum.

Text constituted from: Transcription from stone (CDL).

French translation

(scil. La statue de) Damatrios fils de K[---], son frère, a été consacrée par Da[---] fils de [---]lanôr.

English translation

(scil. The statue of) Damatrios son of K[---], his brother, was dedicated by Da[---] son of [---]lanor.

Italian translation

(scil. La statua di) Damatrios figlio di K[---], suo fratello, fu dedicata da Da[---] figlio di [---]lanor.

Commentary

A sort of pi between lines 1 and 2 and a long vertical line cut on the right are visible on the photograph and squeeze. They are probably related to the re-use of the stone. A caption written with a pen reads 'CAR.ST.BYZ.FORT 1972'. Knowing of no Byzantine fort at Cyrene, we interpret it as the Byzantine tower that stood across Battos Street. However this was dismantled already in 1963 under supervision of Goodchild (see Luni 2002, p. 124). We suppose that the date corresponds to the time when the inscription was discovered when building material was moved from that area as the Italian mission of Stucchi worked on the so-called Stoa of Hermes and Heracles.

For the first name at line 1, we restore the only name ending in -ριος attested in Hellenistic Cyrenaica and fitting the gap. If ἀδελφός has it most common meaning, the dedicant and the honoured man should share the same father's name, that is a name beginning with kappa (l. 1) and ending with λάνωρ (l. 3). None is known up to now, although *Καλάνωρ seems theoretically possible. On the other hand, two names are common at Cyrene, Φιλάνωρ and mostly Αίγλάνωρ, the latter being typically Cyrenaican. We should thus not exclude that both were half-brothers through a common mother, which is the etymological meaning of ἀδελφός. If so, there would be no problem with two different fathers' names.

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Images

Fig. 1. Face of igcyr131100 Private honours

Fig. 2. Squeeze of igcyr131100 Private honours

Maps