AIUK10 no. 1 Grave stele of Aristomache

Grave stele of Aristomache

AIUK 10 (National Galleries of Scotland) no. 1 Date: ca. 375-350 BC

Aristomache^[1] Relief^[2]

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Greek text

References:

AIUK 10 (National Galleries of Scotland) no. 1 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG II² 10783 (PHI)

Conze II no. 817 (drawing)

Clairmont, CAT 1.367

Translation by: Peter Liddel, Polly Low

AIO Images: 1 2

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: Near Cape Zoster (Edinburgh, National Galleries 686)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Nothing more is known about the young woman commemorated here: her name, Aristomache, is a very common one. The inscription provides no definitive information about her status, although it is reasonable to assume that contemporary viewers of the stele would have been able to infer it from the physical context: it is likely that it would have stood within, or close to, a peribolos, or family burial enclosure, and that other monuments would have revealed Aristomache’s family relations and status. Such periboloi are well-attested in the general area of Cape Zoster, the territory of the deme Halai Aixonides, where this stele was discovered. On the deme and its extant inscriptions, see SEG 42.112, with notes. [2] The relief represents a young woman; in her right hand she holds a small figurine. It is likely that the figurine makes visual reference to the terracotta votives important in the worship of deities (such as Artemis) who were believed to be significant in the development of young females. In other words, they represent the piety of the female and her house (oikos) and the attention they paid to normative social and religious conduct. The depiction of a female holding a figurine indicates that the deceased had died unmarried, given that terracotta figurines were dedicated to Artemis at the time of marriage. The monument can be placed in the period 375-350 BC on the basis of the style of its sculpture, and its letter forms are compatible with such a date.

This inscription is one of the two Attic funerary monuments brought to Winton House in East Lothian by the Dowager Lady Ruthven (1789-1885); they are both currently in the holdings of the National Galleries of Scotland. For a fuller discussion of this monument and its collection history, see AIUK 10 (National Galleries of Scotland), no. 1. For more information about private Attic funerary monuments, see AIUK 3 (Cambridge), section 3, with video.

Added: 24 Sep 2021
Updated: 24 Sep 2021
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