Plaster Cast of Greek Inscription: Dedication at Olympia

1900.11.0100

Thumbnail of Plaster Cast of Greek Inscription: Dedication at Olympia (1900.11.0100)

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Basic Information

Artifact Identification Plaster Cast of Greek Inscription: Dedication at Olympia   (1900.11.0100)
Classification/
Nomenclature
  1. Communication Artifacts
  2. :
  3. Documentary Artifacts
  4. :
  5. Other Documents
Artist/Maker Praxiteles
Geographic Location
Period Classical
Date 480 - 475 BCE
Culture Ancient Greek
Location Not on Exhibit

Physical Analysis

Dimension 1 (Length) 56.0 cm
Dimension 2 (Width) 18.3 cm
Dimension 3 (Depth) 3.5 cm
Weight 3,649 g
Measuring Remarks Under Review
Materials Plaster
Manufacturing Processes Cast

Research Remarks

Description

The engraving is the stoichedon style of ancient Greek inscriptions in which the letters are in alignment vertically as well as horizontally and are placed at equal intervals along their respective alignment. The letters are between ?? and ?? m. in height. They are easily read from the photographs and transliterated into the Latin alphabet below with:
Latin th for Greek theta—on the inscription a circle with a cross through the center
Latin h for the aspirate = the Greek character resembling the normal Ionic theta
Latin G for Greek gamma iinscribed like the Latin C
Latin D for Greek delta inscribed like the Latin D
Latin F for Greek diagamma pronounced like English W
Various scholars have identified the writing as in the alphabet used by l. Arkadians, 2. Syrakousians and Kamarinians, or 3. Argives based on the letter forms used by the engraver and the information derived from the text. The inscription is metrical written in hexameters. The last line is ambiguous as to whether Praxiteles was deceased or not when the inscription was made.
Text: Transliterated with left facing square brackets indicating the end of this cast.
Praxiteles anetheke Syrakous]ios tod’ agalma
kai Kamarinaios, prostha de ]Mantineai
Krinios huios enaien en Ark]adiai polymelo[i],
heslos eon, kai Foi mnama t]od’ est’ aretas.
Translation: Praxiteles dedicated this monument [of bronze statues], a Syrakousian and Kamarinian from Mantinea, the son of Krinis who lived in many-peopled Arkadia, being [a] worthy [man], and this is a record of his virtue. The left 2/3 of the inscription is on the cast of 1900.11.0101.

Published Description N/A
Bibliography

Dittenberger, Wilhelm and Karl Purgold. 1896. Die Inschriften von Olympia. Olympia. Die Ergebnisse der von dem deutschen Reich veranstalteten Ausgrabung. Edited by Ernst Curtius and Friedrich Adler, vol. 5. Berlin, no. 630 and 631.

Hanson, P. A. Carmina Epigrapahica Graeca saeculi VIII–V a. Chr. n. Berlin, 1983, 380.

Hill, G. F., R. Meiggs, and A. Andrewes. 1962. Sources for Greek History between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. Oxford, 320, no. 100

Jeffery, Lilian H. 1961. The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece. Oxford = Jeffery, Lilian H., and A. W. Johnston. 1990. The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece. Revised edition with a supplement. Oxford, 160–61, 169 no. 19, 211, and 215 no. 20.

Roberts, Ernest S. 1887. An Introduction to Greek Epigraphy Part 1. Cambridge, 114–15, nos. 80–81, 277. Available on Google books.com.

Artifact History

Credit Line/Dedication N/A
Reproduction yes, Original marble of all three inscriptions on the base is in the Olympia Museum, nos. 23, 28; 30, 12. Produced by Berlin Museum staff from casts made at Olympia, Greece along with other casts as well as a selection of duplicate artifacts from the German excavations.

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