MI·23
| Inscription | |
|---|---|
| Reading in transliteration: | akplu |
| Reading in original script: |     
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| Object: | MI·23 Milano (bowl) |
| Position: | bottom, outside |
| Orientation: | 180° |
| Direction of writing: | dextroverse |
| Script: | North Italic script (Lepontic alphabet) |
| Letter height: | 2.6–2.9 cm1.024 in <br />1.142 in <br /> |
| Number of letters: | 5 |
| Number of words: | 1 |
| Number of lines: | 1 |
| Workmanship: | scratched after firing |
| Condition: | complete |
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| Archaeological culture: | La Tène D 1 [from object] |
| Date of inscription: | late 2nd–early 1st c. BC [from object] |
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| Type: | unknown |
| Language: | unknown |
| Meaning: | unknown |
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| Alternative sigla: | none |
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| Sources: | Casini & Motta 2011: 464 f. |
Images
 Bowl MI·23 Milano with inscription MI·23
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 Inscription MI·23
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Commentary
First published in Casini & Motta 2011: 464, no. 5. Examined for LexLep on 26th of April 2022.
Images in Casini & Motta 2011: 465, fig. 4 (drawing = Casini & Tizzoni 2015: 149, fig. 66.2 and photo).
Five undamaged and perfectly legible letters inscribed upside-down on the bottom of the mortarium (length 5.3 cm). The reading akplu given by Casini & Motta is unambiguous; unfortunately, the form does not lend itself to analysis (see the word page). As said by Casini & Motta, final -u may be the ending of a personal name in the nominative, but the base is obscure; an abbreviated spelling for a name with first element ak '?' and second element aba/i/el- is not plausible. If one wanted to assume a spelling mistake to explain the awkward cluster kpl, one might consider the bar of putative pi a mistake and read akilu (/agillū/?), or that one letter is simply superfluous (aklu abbreviated aclutios, aplu /ablū/ – but why not crossed out?), but amendments like this are almost impossible to argue conclusively especially in short forms. The sequence may be an abbreviation, possibly of more than one word.
Bibliography
| Casini & Motta 2011 | Stefania Casini, Filippo Motta, "Alcune iscrizioni preromane inedite da Milano", Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi 19 (2011), 459–469. |
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| Casini & Tizzoni 2015 | Stefania Casini, Marco Tizzoni, "Via Moneta: analisi culturale delle fasi preromane", Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi 23 (2015), 69–176. |
