The rediscovery of three inscriptions from Paros

 

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During on-site work undertaken by the 21st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of autopsies of ancient stones and in collaboration with the project of the Greek Epigraphic Society for the discovery of inscriptions that are considered to be “lost”, the following inscriptions were found on the island of Paros:

IG XII 5, 298. Fragmentary funerary epigram in three lines (first half of the 5th c. B.C.). The stone was found at the “Damia” house (now the property of Aik. Papanikolaou) at the market of Paroikia on 2 Loch. Kortianou Street. The house has been declared a monument worthy of preservation. The inscription appeared after the plaster that covered the stone was removed. The stone is built upside down into the base of the arch at the exterior of the house. From Hiller von Gaertringen’s phrase in the IG entry “nunc est corona muri in casa ad viam principalem Paroeciae sita” and the published drawing (see photo), it is obvious that he saw the stone in the same place as it is located today. The monument is a longish base, part of which, including some text is missing as it was reworked in order to be used as an architectural member.

IG XII 5, 283. Part of a Doric epistyle broken on its left side. The stone was found built into the wall of the courtyard of a house (property of Igk. Ragousi) in Ἔλητας (1). Hiller von Gaertringen had seen the stone in the same area: “excripsi in regione Βαϊά vallis Ἔλυτας appellatae in Demetrii Protodici villa, quae plus dimidium horae ab urbe distat.” The inscription dates to the Roman Period.

IG XII 5, 397. Funerary inscription from the site Ἀσπρέας near the area Μυρσίνη. According to the IG entry, it was built into a wine press near a church in the area of Μυρσίνη. It is a base of a funerary stele of Parian marble, dated to the last quarter of the 4th c. B.C. The stone was transferred to the Archaeological Museum of Paros.

Zozi Papadopoulou
21st Ephorate of Pre-Historic and Classical Antiquities

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1 The spelling Ἔλητας (with heta) is suggested by a partly published Parian inscription, the text of which can be found in Y. Kourayos – S. Detoratou, Ἀρχ. Δελτ. 54 Β 2 (1999) [2006] 790-791 [SEG LIV 794] and La sculpture des Cyclades à l’époque archaïque, Y. Kourayos – Fr. Prost (eds.), BCH Suppl. 48, Paris 2008, 101-102. [A.P.M.].