MI·13

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Inscription
Reading in transliteration:	]?an
Reading in original script:	]?
Object:	MI·13 Mezzano (bowl)
Position:	bottom, outside
Orientation:	180°
Direction of writing:	dextroverse
Script:	North Italic script
Letter height:	2.5 cm0.984 in <br />
Number of letters:	3
Number of words:	1
Number of lines:	1
Workmanship:	scratched after firing
Condition:	fragmentary
Archaeological culture:	La Tène D [from object]
Date of inscription:	first half of 1st c. BC [from object]
Type:	unknown
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	Solinas 1995: 99 Morandi 2004: 143
Sources:	Morandi 2004: 617 f. no. 143

Images

Patera fragment MI·13 Mezzano with inscription MI·13

Inscription MI·13

Commentary

First published in Castelfranco 1886: 244. Examined for LexLep on 27^th April 2022.

Images in Castelfranco 1886: tav. XIII.64 (drawing), Tizzoni 1981: tav. 11 a (photo), Tizzoni 1984: tav. LVII a (drawing).

Inscribed upside-down on the bottom of the vessel (length of remains 2.8 cm). Final undamaged nu, with the first bar prolonged toward the bottom, is clear; the preceding alpha, though partly lost, is also unambiguous. Before alpha, the remains of a letter in the form of the tip of two oblique lines (or a hasta and bar) can be seen above the breaking edge. Tibiletti Bruno 1984: 122 suggests pi (or lambda) or a form of san; also possible is rho . The drawing by Castelfranco, however, shows an undamaged – maybe a piece chipped off since the late 19^th century? Castelfranco accordingly reads lan with retrograde lambda; also Tizzoni 1981: 15, no. 2). Any number of letters may be lost at the beginning of the inscription. Tent-shaped alpha is untypical for the late date of the inscription and may be due to influence from the Latin alphabet (cf. Tibiletti Bruno 1984: 122).

The form is too short and incomplete to lend itself to interpretation. Tibiletti Bruno 1984: 122 assumes an abbreviated personal name, an accusative being implausible on such a support.

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

Castelfranco 1886	[Pompeo] Castelfranco, "Liguri-Galli e Galli-Romani della Transpadana", Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana 12 (1886), 194–212, 228–257.