Epigraphic Record Research Articles

A military graffito on a pottery plate from the auxiliary fort at Buciumi (Roman Dacia)

The epigraphic record pertaining to the auxiliary fort from Buciumi is quite scarce. This is especially true for onomastic evidence, indeed virtually none of the members of the local garrison is known to us by name. The graffito discussed in the paper, although incomplete; reveals the names of two individuals: a centurion and a common soldier. While the name of the centurion ( Genialis ) is quite usual, the miles displays an extremely rare name of uncertain origin ( Zanax ). The object of the paper is twofold. On one hand it discusses the phenomenon of military graffiti, especially ownership inscriptions, on the other hand it analyses various possibilities regarding the origin of the enigmatic name borne by the soldier in question.

La carrière du patriarche Yin Zhiping 尹志平 et ses mystères

The Quanzhen School, which has endured up to the present day, is certainly the best known of the schools born of the renewal of Daoism characteristic of the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115– 1234). The oldest documents produced by this school give a simple list of the patriarchs who, succeeding the founder Wang Zhe, directed the movement during its first decades. However, a closer examination of the texts, particularly of the biographies found in the epigraphical record, reveals uncertainties caused not by a lack of historical sources but by a posteriori reconstructions or, as in the case discussed here, by the concealment of intrigues that were decisive for the historical evolution of the Quanzhen school. This article examines the strange abdication of Yin Zhiping, and demonstrates that his renunciation was that of a patriarch who should not have attained the position, and could well have been part of a plan conceived and put into practice with skill and patience by his very active successor Li Zhichang.

The Loincloth, Trousers, and Horse-riders in Pre-Islamic Java: Notes on the Old Javanese Term Lañciṅan

The Old Javanese term lañcingan is analysed in detail. Considered by previous scholars to designate “trousers,” it is demonstrated that Old Javanese literary and epigraphical record does not preclude the possibility that in pre-Islamic Java lañcingan denoted an elaborate variety of loincloth, especially the loincloth used in the context of warfare. It is shown that only in the 14th century CE Javanese texts make a distinction between the loincloth (cavět) and trousers (lañcingan). Yet another term, gadag, denoting exclusively “trousers,” is attested in textual record first in the 14-15th centuries CE. In the second part of the article a hypothesis that the bifurcated lower garment has first been introduced in Java through cultural influences of Islam is questioned. An alternative hypothesis is offered that trousers, related to mounted warfare and increased mobility, were adopted earlier than claimed by previous scholars, already sometime between the 12th-14th centuries CE, as an element of Javanese (battle) dress. The introduction of trousers is seen as part of a complex process of the elaboration of horse-riding techniques and specialized equipment, such as improved saddles.

La controvertida edad de Pakal y el ciclo ontogenético en Mesoamérica

Human ontogeny as an irrefutable and universal as biological fact was established in the West as a norm to measure time, but the meaning and its representation are intimately related with the worldwide view, which changes from culture to culture. In the present study, using the conceptual tool of analogue hermeneutics and based on the review of historical sources and various scientific studies, an ontogenetic model is constructed for the life cycle in Mesoamerica, linked to its particular conception of time and space, as reflected in the rituals and myths. This proposal seeks to interpret the divergence in the biological age and chronological age found in the Epigraphic record of the skeleton of K’inich Janahb’ Pakal II from Palenque and other Maya rulers.

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON A SURVEY IN THE HAZIMAH PLAINS: A HAMAD LANDSCAPE IN NORTH-EASTERN JORDAN

In June 2013, an archaeological survey was carried out in the Hazimah plains, situated in the Jebel Qurma region of north-eastern Jordan. These plains surround the so-called Black Desert or harra, which has been known to contain an extremely rich archaeological and epigraphic record. In contrast to the harra, little is known about the archaeology of the surrounding hamad landscapes, and the survey presented in this paper aims to contribute to filling in this gap of knowledge. Initially, the survey aims to investigate the long-term history of settlement and land-use of this seemingly hostile environment, and, at the same time, seeks out an efficient methodology for locating the remains of the largely mobile communities that inhabited the Hazimah plains in the past.

Hwt jh(w)t, The Administration of the Western Delta and the ‘Libyan Question’ in the Third Millennium BC*

Third millennium Hwt jh(w)t is a locality that stands apart from other Lower Egyptian sites. Its unique archaeological and epigraphic record provides an invaluable view of the role played by a Delta centre within the administrative and productive organisation of the kingdom in the third millennium bc. It thus appears that Hwt jh(w)t was a kind of checkpoint regulating access to grazing land and plant resources in the underpopulated Western Delta. Furthermore, this was a region where Libyan populations historically settled and exploited its pasture land. Finally, traces of exchange networks in the hands of both mobile desert populations (Libyans in the oases and the north, Nubians in the south) and autonomous Egyptians, apparently operating outside any institutional framework, are becoming increasingly evident across Egypt. The resulting picture is that of a complex interaction of partly complementary, partly competing interests involving nomad pastoral populations, Egyptian settlers, and the Pharaonic state. Occasional conflicts should therefore be interpreted in the light of such interests, as the consequence of competing strategies seeking to control local resources, exchange networks and flows of wealth. Thus, concepts such as ‘Libyan invasions’, stereotyped views of Libyans as poor wandering nomads, or the alleged contrast between sedentary Egyptians and nomad Libyans as distinct, opposed ethnic and productive entities should also be revised.

Daimones in the Thracian Sea: Mysteries, Iron, and Metaphors

Abstract The daimones associated with the mystery cult of Samothrace have been interpreted as the distant memory of prehistoric smiths or dismissed from investigation altogether because of their absence from the epigraphic record. Anthropological models of metaphor formation offer a more nuanced approach to understanding their functions in the cult. The daimones’ ethnicity suggests a response to cultural interactions and economic production in the region; their metallurgical skills provided a key metaphor articulating a range of concepts which defined the rites, including secrecy, regional identity, and cosmological speculation.

Bioarchaeological Analysis of a Royal Burial from the Oldest Maya Tomb in Palenque, Mexico

AbstractIn 1957, a new discovery inside Temple XVIII‐A was made in Palenque, the Mayan archaeological site in Chiapas Mexico, a royal tomb of an original design which proved to be the oldest at the site. Two skeletons were found, the principal (PAL‐44) was at the centre showing red pigmentation on the surface of some bones, personal adornments and offerings, which indicate that he was an early ruler of Palenque. The second (PAL‐45), deposited at the entrance, not in a special mortuary position, without offerings, suggests it was of a lower social status. This research presents a new bioarchaeological analysis with the following results: (i) The result of a direct radiocarbon dating of PAL‐44 by accelerator mass spectrometry is 250–420 cal AD (LTL12759A:1696 ± 30 BP). This means that the personage was buried long before the first designated ruler of Palenque, who, according to the epigraphic record was enthroned in ad 431. (ii) With X‐Ray Fluorescence, the red pigment was identified as cinnabar (HgS). (iii) PAL‐44 is a young adult male with a severe idiopathic scoliosis with a double curvature that affected the ribcage and lower limbs. Such a three‐dimensional deformity resulted in changes to his body mechanics and induced motion asymmetry. Consequently, his health and mobility must have been significantly affected by such a severe condition. (iv) PAL‐45 is an adult female with signs of nutritional problems in childhood and entheseal changes probably related to her activity. Three ante‐mortem traumas are registered: rib fracture, frontal depressed circular fracture and a nasal septal deviation. This traumatic event took place two weeks, approximately, prior to PAL‐45's death. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

IMPACTS OF POLITICS ON MATERIAL CULTURE: EVALUATING THE YAXUNA-COBASACBE

AbstractOver the past thirty years, Mayanists have increasingly discussed the relationships between large polities. Advances in our understanding of epigraphy have largely driven this increased focus. Yet in areas where the epigraphic record is less understood, as is the case with the northern Maya lowlands, archaeologists have turned to other data to piece together political relationships. These data often consist of architectural and ceramic styles. Models based on such data generally assume that styles of material culture will cluster among social groups that are more closely knit than others (familial or political ties) or will occur in an area after it has been subordinated by a particular polity. One case where such a model has been applied is the site of Yaxuna, which was connected to the metropolis of Coba by a 100 km-long causeway during the Late Classic period. The difference between this case and others is that not only do the two sites share some aspects of material culture during this period, but we can also physically see that the sites were integrated by an actual road. In most cases where stylistic models have been applied, the possible routes connecting sites do not preserve, making the correlation between styles and social interaction more speculative. In this paper, we reevaluate the Yaxuna-Coba case using a modal analysis of the Arena ceramic group shared by Yaxuna and Coba during that time. Our data suggest that one particularly important type (Arena Red) was produced in Yaxuna and exported in a limited range of forms down the causeway toward sites in Quintana Roo. Although several archaeologists have argued that the causeway represents the subordination of Yaxuna by an expanding Late Classic Coba polity, our data suggest that the resulting impact on material culture may be more complex than current models imply. Ceramic economies operating in a very limited fashion within or outside of spheres of political action may have been common among the Maya, although the idea that trade follows flag certainly appears to have existed in this case.

“Favoured by the Venerable Lord Paśupati” Tracing the Rise of a New Tutelary Deity in Epigraphic Expressions of Power in Early Medieval Nepal

The Paśupatināth temple in Kathmandu, dedicated to the deity Śiva Paśupati, is Nepal’s national shrine. The existence of this site and local Śaiva religious activities can be traced back to as early as the fifth century ce, but it was the ruler Aṃśuvarman (fl. 605–621) who first publicly declared his allegiance to the god of the main shrine by styling himself as “favoured by the Venerable Lord Paśupati” in his inscriptions. This allegiance would remain deeply implanted in the religio-political discourse of Nepal thenceforth. Mainly on the basis of the epigraphical record, this article investigates some historical and political processes responsible for shaping the links between Śiva Paśupati as a religious symbol and the ruling elite of Nepal in this early phase, a period in which powerful ministers gradually supplanted the royal elite. Thus, in the wake of Aṃśuvarman’s reign the Paśupatināth shrine had also risen to enough prominence to be included in the list of sacred Śaiva sites in the Indic religious scripture Skandapurāṇa.

The Problem of the Ancient Name Java and the Role of Satyavarman in Southeast Asian International Relations Around the Turn of the Ninth Century CE

One of the most familiar narratives of ancient Southeast Asian history is the account of how Cambodian king Jayavarman II liberated his country from Javā, and consequently declared himself emperor in the year 802 CE. These events and this year are widely considered to represent the beginning of the Angkorian “ empire”. Recent years have seen several new scholarly contributions questioning parts of this narrative. One issue is the very historicity of the narrative elements about Jayavarman II, another topic of debate is the identity of Javā in the narratives related to Jayavarman II, and, more generally, in the history of Southeast Asia. After revealing the very weak foundations of certain recent attempts to argue that references to Javā in sources of the Southeast Asian mainland denoted a place on the continent or the Malay peninsula, this paper argues that the Khmer inscriptions refer to the island of Java when they use the term Javā. The paper shows, furthermore, that narratives involving Javā do not exclusively concern Jayavarman II, but that a certain Satyavarman is in some sources attributed a role very similar to that of the much more famous king Jayavarman II. It is proposed that this Satyavarman may well have been the king of that name who ruled in southern Campā around 800 CE, and hence that the epigraphical record of Satyavarman in Campā is likely to hold important clues not only for the history of Campā itself, but equally for international political relations between the Khmer, Cam and Javanese polities in the late 8th and early 9th century of our era.

Toward Pinpointing the Timing of the Egyptian Abandonment of Avaris During the Middle of the 18th Dynasty

The Austrian archaeological team led by Manfred Bietak that excavated the palatial district at Avaris (Tell el-Dab‘a) has produced some significant results for illuminating Lower Egypt’s history during the 15th and 18th Dynasties. While Bietak’s subsequent publications primarily have focused on the exquisite Minoan wall paintings and the site’s likely association with Peru-nefer, much less attention has centered on the timing of the mid-18th-Dynasty abandonment that Bietak says occurred “after Amenhotep II,” and was followed by an occupational gap. Did the abandonment occur during the reign of Amenhotep II, at the end of his reign, or during the reign of Thutmose IV? The present work will seek to bring together all of the relevant data—from the archaeological evidence at the site, the epigraphical record, and corroborative evidence from Theban tomb paintings—in an attempt to determine more precisely the timing of the mid-18th-Dynasty abandonment of the site.

The Legal Precision of the Term ‘πάράkλητος’

The Greek term πάράkλητος has often been loosely translated as ‘advocate’, with the assumption that it possesses a vague forensic quality. Hitherto, however, its precise meaning has been imperfectly understood, and there has been no cohesive legal definition for all of its appearances, especially those in the New Testament. This study examines all of the occurrences of the term πάράαkλητος, including previously overlooked attestations in the papyrological and epigraphical record. It argues that the term is a precise calque for the Latin legal term advocatus, meaning a person of high social standing who speaks on behalf of a defendant in a court of law before a judge. The article concludes by showing how this meaning is appropriate to the five appearances of παράkλητος in the Johannine corpus.

Linguistic Evidence for ‘Romanization’: Continuity and Change in Romano-British Onomastics: A Study of the Epigraphic Record with Particular Reference to Bath

Based on a new online database of Celtic personal names, this research demonstrates how the study of Romano-British onomastics can shed light on the complexities of linguistic and cultural contacts, complementing archaeological material and literary sources. After an introductory section on methodology, Part One analyses naming formulae and expressions of filiation as evidence for both continuity and change dependent on social and geographical factors. Confusion and contamination between the Latin and Celtic systems proved much less common than on the Continent, where earlier contact with Roman culture and the written tradition for Continental Celtic occasionally facilitated an unusual form of syncretism. Part Two examines the naming formulae attested at Roman Bath and the mechanisms by which Celts adopted Latin names. The case-study of Bath relates continuity and change in both naming formulae and nomenclature to an acceptance of, or resistance to, ‘Romanization’ in Britain.

Physiognomonica (review)

Reviewed by: Aristoteles: Physiognomonica T. Corey Brennan Sabine Vogt . Aristoteles: Physiognomonica. Aristoteles, Werke in Deutscher Übersetzung, 18.6. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1999. Pp. 499. €74.80. ISBN 3-05-003487-4. Physiognomists—the folks who claimed the ability to divine one's character or even fate from physical features—seem wholly to escape commemoration as such in the Greek and Latin epigraphic record. In that respect the practitioners of this dodgy discipline fare worse than even astrologers. Why the low status? After all, the physiognomical approach had a respectable enough pedigree. There is some basic descriptive physiognomy already in Homer (think of Thersites in Iliad 2), not to mention the Hippocratic corpus (especially the ethnological Airs, Waters, Places) and Plato (e.g., Phd. 81F). Aristotle famously argued that physiognomics had a logical foundation (see Pr. Anal. 70b7–14, taking the interrelation of changes in body and soul as a given) and used physiognomical inferences extensively in (especially) zoological works such as the Historia Animalium (books 1 and 9). The biographical works of Suetonius and Plutarch are full of them, as are stretches of, say, the Paedagogus of Clement of Alexandria. But one persistent problem for the profession was its reputation for seemingly arbitrary attributions of character based on appearance. Such is the gist of Cicero's story of Zopyrus, a physiognomist said to have examined Socrates' collarbones and pronounced him to be a dunce—and a womanizer to boot, which Alcibiades thought tremendously funny (De Fato 10; see Tusc. 4.80, where Socrates charitably helps the physiognomist save face). [End Page 202] Another difficulty surely was the emergence of physiognomists who moved beyond personality tests and into the even more risky business of prediction—though here it must be said that Sulla did not complain when such an examination in his earlier career yielded the conclusion that he had to be the greatest man in the world (Plut. Sull. 5.5–6). It is a pity that only a few technical treatises have come down to us to tell the practitioners' side of the story. R. Foerster's (1893, and still standard) Teubner edition of Scriptores Physiognomonici gathers a total of just eight, most quite late. Only three of these have real importance: a Physiognomonica preserved in the Aristotelian corpus, and the efforts of the sophist Polemo (mid-second century A.D., well treated in Maud Gleason's Making Men [Princeton 1995]) and Adamantius "Iudaeus" (early fifth century A.D.). Sabine Vogt's project ostensibly is to translate and comment on the first of these tracts, a serious production that in essence takes up physiognomy where Aristotle left off. Strikingly, the first sentence of the Physiognomonica alludes to Aristotle's demonstration in the Prior Analytics of a body/soul correlation; and throughout it heavily exploits physiognomical inferences specifically found in the Historia Animalium. Vogt convincingly shows that this work is a unified treatise in two parts, devoted in turn to theory (805a1–808b10) and method (808b11–814b9), to be dated on textual and cultural-historical grounds to somewhere in the area of 300 B.C. (187–97). By and large Vogt's text is that of Bekker (Berlin 1831); Foerster's is too full of square brackets, interpolations, conjectures, and lacunae to use for a translation (230). I say this book "ostensibly" sets out to be a translation and commentary, for what the reader gets is a lavishly detailed introduction to the whole topic of ancient physiognomy. It is impressive that here most of the testimonia that Foerster collected in his Scriptores Physiognomonici receive at least some discussion. Vogt's central views on the development of the techne are set out with admirable clarity in two central narrative chapters, one on physiognomical thought in Greek art and literature (45–107), and a dazzling exposition on the theory, praxis, and method of it all (108–66). When it comes to the treatise itself, Vogt's comments and commentary show excellent treatment especially of 805b10–806a18 (necessary conditions for valid comparisons with animals), 806a19–22 (physiognomy defined), 808a12 (distinguishing marks of the kinaidos), 809a13 (the much-discussed physiognomical conception of epiprepeia, which Vogt takes as "Gesamteindruck"="overall impression"), and 814a9–b9 (the...

Late Classical and Hellenistic Furniture and Furnishings in the Epigraphical Record

This article reviews the epigraphical evidence for furniture and furnishings from Late Classical and Hellenistic Greece, with particular attention to the furniture recorded in the treasure lists of Greek sanctuaries, and in the inscriptions recording loans, mortgages, and other commercial transactions involving property, between the late 4th and 1st centuries B.C. The principal goals of the study are to collect the types of furniture and furnishings mentioned in the inscriptions; to examine the vocabulary used to describe them and, where possible, to determine their value; and to discuss the purpose and significance of the furniture found in ancient Greek sanctuaries, whether used for display, storage, or as mobilier du culte.

Miners and mistresses

Expeditions to procure gemstones from mines in Egypt’s marginal territories during the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055-1650 BC) are generally perceived as representing centralized, bureaucratized and hierarchical missions to essentially monopolized resources. Traditional ‘top-down’ approaches to the social context of mining in this period assume the pivotal role of the state in controlling such endeavours through large-scale centrally organized expeditions, as deduced from the epigraphic record. This article advances a ‘bottom-up’ approach to gemstone mining in the Middle Kingdom by the deployment of cross-cultural and cross-level theories in social archaeology to microlevel production data at three key mining sites in Egypt’s marginal territories. Strategies of engagement and negotiation at local levels to get access to a local labour force and the source, rather than monopolization and state controlled procurement, are forwarded as significant aspects of Middle Kingdom gemstone mining outside the Nile Valley. Feminine imagery at gemstone mines may have constituted a ritual and symbolic device to foster solidarity and cohesion among a local labour force in Egypt’s marginal zones.

The Vedii Antonini: Aspects of Patronage and Benefaction in Second-Century Ephesos

DURING HIS EXCAVATIONS OF THE ODEUM OR BOULEUTERION at Ephesos between 1864 and 1866, John Turtle Wood discovered a group of monumental inscriptions. The thin slabs of marble had fallen from their original places, affixed to the proscaenium, onto the stage proper.l Wood was able to identify five inscriptions, which he later published in an appendix to his Discoveries atEphesus.2 Additional fragments of these and other inscriptions from the bouleuterion were found by Wood later in his excavations and were published by C. Curtius and E. L. Hicks.3 Three of the inscriptions from the bouleuterion, IE 1491, 1492, and 1493, form a distinct group (Plates 1, 2, 3), inscribed in the same hand on two panels which join in the middle of IE 1492.4 They concern a dispute that arose between Publius Vedius Antoninus and the citizens of Ephesos concerning a promised building project, and its resolution by the emperor Antoninus Pius in favour of Vedius Antoninus. Because these inscriptions deal with buildings, this man has been widely identified as M. Claudius Publius Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus (Vedius II), who, with his wife Flavia Papiane, is known from the epigraphic record to have built the bouleuterion and a bath-gymnasium complex at Ephesos. Since Wood's discovery of the bouleuterion inscriptions, numerous further finds have made the Vedii one of the most epigraphically commemorated families in Ephesos. About fifty-five more inscriptions representing six generations of this family have come to light. Of these, some twenty have been assigned to M. Claudius Publius Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus (Vedius III), though not without controversy.5 He is the best known of the family, due as much to his

Les édifices de Justinien au témoignage de Procope et de l’épigraphie

For a thorough assessment of Procopius’s De Aedificiis and its value as a source one must refer to the epigraphic record. The author has drawn up a systematic inventory of inscriptions on buildings constructed by Justinian in Constantinople and the provinces from 518 to 565. The inventory comprises nearly eighty documents, arranged by regions, following a plan similar to that of Procopius. Some fifty monuments are represented, roughly half of which are mentioned in De Aedificiis. By way of introduction the epigraphic material is analysed from various points of view: 1) the different sorts of monumental inscriptions; 2) local disparity of documentation; 3) chronological distribution; 4) the role of the emperor and empress; 5) the prosopography of the buildings: architects, officials, bishops. In addition to imperial dedications in the strict sense, the inventory contains other epigraphic categories: acclamations in honour of Justinian and Theodora, imperial monograms, dedications of statues of Justinian, etc. Two further groups of inscriptions, less closely related to imperial foundations, are treated in an appendix: boundary-markers of sanctuary granted to churches by Justinian and inscriptions dated simply by the year of his reign. The texts in the inventory have not been re-edited, but each is presented with a bibliography, translation and commentary. Likewise, an analysis is given of the passages in Procopius where he mentions the same locality or monument. The article ends with an index of dated buildings and a concordance of De Aedificiis and the inscriptions.

Frontier and Society in Roman North Africa

This book seeks to define the cultural, social, and economic consequences of the Roman occupation of North Africa (c.50 BC-AD 250), mainly in the semi-arid frontier-zone of what is today Algeria. It also offers a fresh look at the development and purpose of the north African frontier-system. Through detailed examination of the region's archaeological and epigraphic record, including the marriage-patterns recorded on its surviving, funerary inscriptions, Professor Cherry demonstrates that there was probably little acculturation in the north African frontier-zone. The Roman army, long considered to be a powerful instrument of Romanization and a bridge to the indigenous societies of the provinces of the Empire, is shown to have functioned primarily as an army of occupation on the north African frontier, segregated, by choice or circumstance, from the region's aboriginal population.