Gephyra (May 2015)
An Altar from Nacoleia and Its Greek-Phrygian Inscriptions
Abstract
The author publishes an altar found in Nacoleia (Seyitgazi) with reliefs and mostly badly conserved inscriptions on all its faces. It seems to date from the 3rd century AD. The reliefs are interpreted as belonging respectively to the author of the dedication (standing man with two rods in the left hand, perhaps the insignia of his priesthood, face A), his wife (bust, face B), his son (standing man, very similar to that on face A but obviously smaller, with a papyrus scroll in the left hand, face C) and his daughter (bust, face D). Only face A preserves the whole text of the inscriptions. Above the relief we read a dedication of a certain Brogimaros, who bears a Celtic name, to ‘his’ Zeus (Διὶ Βρογιμαρου) and Hera (called Κυρία). He puts his own (funerary) monument (μνημόσυνον) under the protection of these gods. From the fragmentary inscription (an epigram in three verses) of face B (above the relief) we learn that Brogimaros had at least two children: taking the reliefs into account, we can thus infer that these were a son and a daughter. In the fragmentary inscription on face D (above the relief), which is also an epigram, this time an unfinished distichon consisting of a hexameter and a verse of only four feet, Brogimaros, speaking in the first person, identifies himself as priest of the great Zeus (μεγάλου Διὸς ἀρητήρ, the last word being a Homeric term). Therefore, he may have founded a local cult of Zeus in his rural community, which would account for the formula Διὶ Βρογιμαρου of the dedication on face A. Nothing can be said about the heavily damaged inscription on face C (engraved above the relief because below there is no inscription). All these reliefs and inscriptions have been ordered by Brogimaros himself to a lapicide conventionally designated here as A. After Brogimaros’ death, his son may have added the Neo-Phrygian inscriptions on face A (one above, the other one under the relief), a new Greek epigram on face B (under the relief) and perhaps also the inscription (epigram?) on face D (under the relief), from which we have no more than some isolated remains of letters. All these inscriptions reveal a different hand, therefore, the author distinguishes here the so-called lapicide B. The first Phrygian inscription (over the relief) is syntactically related to the previous Greek text and continues the same idea. It remembers that the parents (πατρες; to compare with the attested NPhr. πατερης) consecrated a grave (ουεβα) to a funerary parcel (κορο[υ]μαν, new word discussed in de tail) and expresses a vow: καρπυς ειλικρινη εγουννου (the first two words might correspond to Greek καρποί and εἰλικρινής respectively, while the last one, perhaps a Dative, to Greek ἔγγονος, ‘successor’). The second Phrygian inscription (under the relief) is a typical Neo-Phrygian curse against grave desecrators. Nevertheless, no explanation can be suggested as yet for the last part of the apodosis. Also, some metrics are suggested for both Phrygian inscriptions. The first one would be a distichon composed by a hexameter and a pentameter with a supplementary (and disturbing) foot, while the second one (two verses of five feet and a third one of only three feet) would present the same scheme as the Greek epigram on face B (above the relief).
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