Newly Found Funerary Inscriptions from the Muratdede/Masdat Village of Karaman (Laranda)

Abstract

This contribution presents the recent discovery of seven funerary inscriptions, three of them are epigrams, in the village of Muratdede/Masdat in the province of Karaman. The first five of these inscriptions date from the Roman imperial era and the remaining two can be dated to the Late Roman or Early Byzantine periods. The following personal names are recorded in these inscriptions: Αὐρ Πωπας and his son of the same name, Πωπας, Βαλαθθις (no. 1); Διομήδης twice, as both a father and son (no. 2); Αὐρηλίαν Λ/Α[. . Ἄ]μμω[νίου/νος]? (no. 3); [Ἑρ]μιόνη and her son Τιβέρι(ο)ς (no. 4); Εὐστρατί(ος/δας), Μᾶρκος, [Ἡ]λιόδωρ(ος)? (no. 5); Καματα (no. 6); Αὐρ. Κο[υ?]ττονις and his father Κοτονιος and cousin Παπιας (no. 7).Among these epitaphs, in terms of the information it contains, the most prominent inscription is the third or fourth century A.D. epigram dedicated to Marcus (no. 5). The salutation phrase περίψημά σου “your humble servant” in the non-metric sentence preceding the epigram supports the dating of this inscription to these centuries. The mention of the ethnonym of δῆμος Μασταζιων “demos of Mastazians” in the epigram of Marcus indicates that the extant Masdat name derives from the antiquity. This epigram also mentions the existence of wise men (ἄνδρες συνετοί) among the people of Masdat settlement. Another epigram (no. 7) is the first one, in which a Homeric phrase such as ἐπὶ σῆμ᾽ ἔχεεν was quoted.Finally, two inscriptions and the terms they contain, such as trismakaristos (no. 4), diakon and presbyteros (no. 6), are of considerable importance in determining the Christian period of this settlement, as they do not appear in any of the Masdat inscriptions published to date.