AIUK46 no. 14 Grave marker of Mousonia(s?)

Grave marker of Mousonia(s?)

AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments) no. 14 Date: ii-iii AD (a), ii AD (b)

(a) (Of?) Mousonia(s?).

(b) -non (erasure) (son of) -non of Gargettos.^[1]

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Greek text

References:

AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments) no. 14 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG II² 5945 (PHI)

GIBM I 83

Conze IV no. 2152

Translation by: Robert Pitt

AIO Images: 1

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: Near Athens (BM 1816,0610.331)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This grave marker is among the inscriptions acquired in Athens by Lord Elgin (cf. AIUK 4.1, no. 2). An earlier inscription (2nd century AD) gives the ending of a name (-non) followed by an erasure of the rest of the line, a further fragmentary name with the same ending (-non), but in the genitive (so perhaps a patronymic) and the beginning of a demotic. The second, later, inscription (2nd - 3rd century AD) gives the name Mousonias (a male name in the nominative, or perhaps the genitive of the female name, Mousonia). It is difficult to interpret how these inscriptions were expected to be understood together, and why some of the text was deliberately removed, but this highlights the common practice of reusing and reworking funerary monuments at Athens, and the problems of interpreting them when we do not have all of their elements preserved.

The butterfly carved in relief onto an antefix is a symbol connected with the soul leaving the body: both share the same Greek word psyche, and the personification Psyche is often depicted with butterfly wings. The insect is found carved upon Athenian grave monuments of the Roman period. For more detailed discussion of the inscription see AIUK 4.6 (BM, Funerary Monuments), no. 14.

Added: 6 Apr 2022
Updated: 6 Apr 2022
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ID: AIO_2176