The funerary inscription IG XII 7, 348 from Κατ᾽ Ἀκρωτήρι at Katapola, Amorgos
Click here to view it in Greek.
For a number of years, an ongoing systematic search is being undertaken on the island of Amorgos for the relocation of previously published inscriptions for which the present whereabouts are unknown, especially those included in the volume comprising the inscriptions of Amorgos in the corpus of the Inscriptiones Graecae -IG XII 7 (published in 1908) and IG XII Suppl. (published in 1939)1.
The chapel of Παναγίτσα at Κατʼ Ἀκρωτήρι (2011).
The funerary inscriptions IG XII 7, 348 and 349 were originally located by the priest Δημ. Πράσινος, as noted by Ι. Delamarre, editor of the IG volume. More specifically he notes: «in loco Κάτω Ἀκρωτήρι duas stelas notavit Prasinus». Both inscriptions were published without mention of their exact location and without the stones’ description, measurements and letter height. Since then the stones were considered “lost”.
On September 2, 2011, one of the two inscriptions IG XII 7, 348 was found by the author built into the chapel of Παναγία at Κατ’ Ἀκρωτήρι 2, situated west of Katapola, at the ancient harbor (Λιμήν) of Minoa.
The funerary stele marked with a red line, built into the facade of the chapel (photo taken on 20-11-2011)
The chapel is located on a coastal field west of the north extremity of the seafront “leg” fortification wall of Minoa and at a distance of a few meters from the transformed coast line. There are several visible ancient remains of buildings nearby both on the ground surface and under water. It is the so called –up to 1907- «μισογκρεμισμένο ἐκκλησάκι τῆς Παναγίας κατὰ ἀκροτήρι (sic), which has in its ruins many inscribed stones from the ancient necropolis with simple names of Later Times» (R. Weil, Von den griechischen Inseln, AM 1, 1876, 332: «….eine verfallene Kapelle…in deren Ruinen man Inschriftsteine der alten Nekropole in Menge findet, meist blosse Namen und aus später Zeit»).
The present chapel of Παναγίτσα was undoubtedly built after 19083. It is founded on the ruins of a larger sized apsidal building. It is evident under thick layers of plaster that it is entirely built with ancient material, stones that have been reworked and architectural members. One can also observe fragments of marble building material built into the wall which encloses the small paved courtyard of the chapel.
A closer view of the stele built into the facade of the chapel (photo taken on 20-11-2011)
The funerary inscription IG XII 7, 348, engraved on grayish local stone, stands out among various spolia of different kinds and times, epistyles, antae and columns, fragments of stelae, etc., which came to light after the removal of the cement plaster that covered the façade of the chapel.
LILA I. MARANGOU
Professor emerita (University of Ioannina)
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1See L. Ι .Marangou, Habent sua fata lapides Amorgii: IG XII 7 and Supplementum revisited: the rediscovered inscriptions on Amorgos (1951-2011) (forthcoming).
2For the toponym, the location and the chapel see Λ.Ἰ. Μαραγκοῦ, Ἀμοργὸς Ι-Η Μινώα. Ἡ πόλις, ὁ λιμὴν καὶ ἡ μείζων περιφέρεια (Βιβλιοθήκη τῆς ἐν Ἀθήναις Ἀρχαιολογικῆς Ἑταιρείας nr. 228, Ἀθῆναι 2002), 302-305, with the older bibliography.
3See. Μαραγκοῦ, Ἀμοργὸς Ι, 2002, 304-305 notes 688-689.