Notes on the "Black Stones" from Tyana

Recently Cohen, Maran and Vetters published a broken cylindrical ivory rod incised with a cuneiform inscription. The artifact was found among the remains of the Lower Citadel of Tiryns in the Peloponnese. The authors provide a thorough discussion of the archeological context of the discovery and very helpful photographs and drawings of the object and its inscription. Cohen, Maran and Vetters date the object to c. 1200 BCE. Cohen argues for two possible closely related readings and interpretations of the inscription. In this paper I will (1) argue for two closely related alternative readings and interpretations that themselves differ significantly from those proposed by Cohen. (2) I will then examine Cohen’s reading of the inscription. And (3) I will discuss the publication team’s interpretation of the rod in the light of my suggested interpretations. Figure 1 is drawing, of the artifact and its inscription.

Some Remarks on the New Phrygian Inscription No. 88, 1992

A Greek Inscription from Tarraco (CIL II2/14,2 G16), ZPE 181, 2012, 88-90, 2012

The edition of a new volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, containing ancient inscriptions from the area of Tarraco (Colonia Julia urbs triumphalis Tarraco) in modern Catalonia, is the most recent invaluable contribution of Professor Géza Alföldy to ancient studies. 1 The volume contains not only the Latin but also the Greek inscriptions of this area, mostly accompanied by photographs or facsimiles, making them comfortably consultable. The signifi cance of the Greek inscriptions of Tarraco is highlighted by G. Alföldy in a thorough study of this material, recently published in the ZPE. 2 Two short inscriptions that have puzzled both earlier editors and G. Alföldy are of particular interest. 3 Both were painted on the plaster of a wall in a Roman villa, built on the hill of Els Munts in the area of Altafulla, some 12 km east of Tarragona. They were painted by the same hand in the mid-2 nd century A.D., when the villa was repaired by its new resident, a lover of Greek culture. Both are of the same size and have a cartouche-like framing. They are now in the Museu Nacional Arqueòlogic de Tarragona.

Varia epigraphica et archaeologica. Volume dédié à la mémoire de Maria Bărbulescu (Pontica 52, suppl. VI), Constanța, 2019

Zeitschrift Fur Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, 2009