994. Funerary inscription
- Description:
- Upper part of a limestone column (h: 1.96 x diam.: 0.34) tapering slightly towards the top and terminating in an outward-curving flange; reassembled from two pieces, each damaged above and below.
- Text:
- Inscribed within a panel (0.30c. 1.82) defined by two lightly incised lines, having an ansa, similarly defined, at the top.
- Letters:
- Late capitals, carefully cut; ave. 0.035.
- Date:
- Unlikely to be earlier than the middle of the fourth century. (lettering)
- Findspot:
- Wadi Zemzem: Ghirza; One of the two pieces was found in 1953 on the slope in front of Mausoleum A in the group nearest the habitations. The second was found in 1955 inside the underground burial chamber of the same mausoleum.
- Original Location:
- Unknown
- Last recorded location:
- Tripoli Castle.
- Bibliography:
- Not previously published. This edition taken from J. M. Reynolds, 'Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania: A Supplement', Proceedings of the British School at Rome 23 (1955), 124-147, no. S.22.
- Text constituted from:
- Transcription (Reynolds)
c̣ịs memorator Ṃ-
[··]neorum est Mọṇ-
[·]san filius Voc-
5ỊỊS omnibus par-
rentibus pos[uit] (sic)
quis et u[·· c. 7··]
diem[·· c. 10··]
uic[tori]arum [s]ụ-
10arum exhibuit
sacrificia [·]ạre-
ntaliorum ta-
uros n(umero) LỊ qu-
inquaginta ẹ[t]
15[unum(?)] capros [n(umero)]
[XX(?)]XVIII ṭṛị[gi]-
[nta] o]c̣t[o·· ? ··]
Translation:
The following [·· ? ··] commemorator of the M[··]nei is Mon[·]san, son of Voc[·]is; he set up for all his ?family ?for whom [·· ? ··] the day (accusative case) of his victories he presented the sacrificial animals of the ?parentalia, bulls to the numneber of fifty-one, goats to the number of thirty-eight [·· ? ··]
Commentary:
The primary inscription of this mausoleum (899) is still in situ above its door. The new text, if it is to be associated with this, must be considered as secondary; but it is quite possible that it belonged to a mausoleum now destroyed.
.ll 2-4. Presumably the name of the family concerned. All the names in this text, in so far as they can be read, are otherwise unknown.
.l.12: The lower serif of a letter, probably an upright, is visible to the left of A. There is just room here for a P, giving parentaliorum (for this form of the genitive of parentalia see ILS 8370); the sense seems to require a noun descriptive of the type of victims, but I cannot find an instance of parentalia used in this way.
ll. 12-17. The unusually large number of victims is noteworthy, and demonstrates the great wealth of the settlement at Ghirza (see also 995). Since the inscription is unlikely to be earlier than the middle of the fourth century it also demonstrates the vigour of the pagan tradition there.
- Photographs:
- none.
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