MI·22

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Inscription
Reading in transliteration:	ạṛḳị
Reading in original script:
Object:	MI·22 Milano (bowl)
Position:	bottom, outside
Orientation:	180°
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Script:	North Italic script (Lepontic alphabet)
Number of letters:	4
Number of words:	1
Number of lines:	1
Workmanship:	unknown
Condition:	damaged
Archaeological culture:	La Tène B 2 [from object]
Date of inscription:	first half of 3rd c. BC [from object]
Type:	unknown
Language:	prob. Celtic
Meaning:	'of Ark(i)os' (?)
Alternative sigla:	none
Sources:	Casini & Motta 2011: 464

Commentary

First published in Casini & Motta 2011: 464, no. 4.

Images in Casini & Motta 2011: 463, fig. 3 (drawing = Casini & Tizzoni 2015: 105, fig. 30.1 and photo).

Four letters, written upside-down, preserved on three fragments of the bottom of the bowl. All of them are incomplete on top. The reading arki is proposed by Casini & Motta, and quite plausible, though not certain: rho could also be iota plus sigma , especially considering the low angle; the third letter could be St. Andrew's cross (though the right-hand side line looks fairly straight); the last letter could have featured any number of bars on top, and its identification as iota is owed to phonotactic considerations. The lines of putative rho are fainter than the others; Casini & Motta assert that the other lines are impressed and only those of rho are scratched.

If the reading arki is correct, the form can be a genitive of a Celtic personal name, though comparanda are sparse (see the word page). Casini & Motta compare aruki at Gottolengo and assume that upsilon was left out, but the motivation for this is unclear.

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

Casini & Motta 2011	Stefania Casini, Filippo Motta, "Alcune iscrizioni preromane inedite da Milano", Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi 19 (2011), 459–469.
Casini & Tizzoni 2015	Stefania Casini, Marco Tizzoni, "Via Moneta: analisi culturale delle fasi preromane", Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi 23 (2015), 69–176.