Three new funerary inscriptions from Tenedos

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Systematic and methodical excavations on Tenedos (today Bozcaada) were initiated for the first time in 2021, under the directorship of Turan Takaoğlu, following various rescue excavations that were first conducted in the late 1950s and continued sporadically since then¹. These recent excavations and surveys carried out on the island led to numerous new discoveries, including the two new funerary inscriptions presented in this paper, no. 2 and 3. In this article, in addition to these two recently discovered inscriptions on the island, I have taken the opportunity to introduce another funerary inscription, which was discovered during the rescue excavations on the island in 2002. Not only do these inscriptions considerably enrich the number of inscriptions from Tenedos, which remains extremely poor, but inscriptions no. 1 and 2 also contribute to the inscriptions in the dialect of Lesbos². It is unsuprising to find inscriptions in the Lesbian dialect on the island of Tenedos; in addition to two early coins and a dedication of a Tenedian named Eurylochos, the use of the Lesbian dialect on the island is well known through three decrees of the Tenedians inscribed in the Lesbian dialect³.

1. CENOTAPH OF ATHANAION OF BYZANTION

According to the inventory report, the stele was found in the upper level of grave no. 18 during the rescue excavations required for the construction of the Bozcaada government mansion in 2002⁴. It is made of fine-grained white marble and has a plain pediment decorated with three acroteria. The lower part of the stele is missing. With the pediment height of 11 cm, the stele has a total height of 26 cm, and a width of 31 cm. The shaft measures 28.9 cm in width, while the thickness of the stele ranges from 5 cm to 6.7 cm. The letter height var ies between 0.6 cm ( omega ) and 1.3 cm ( phi ). Inventory number: 9601, fig. 1.

Ἀθαναί̣ωνος Λεοντίσ κ ω

2 Βυζαντίω κ ενοτάφιον

Λεοντίσ κ ω ( l. 1) is the genitive singular of the personal name Λεοντίσ κ ος and Βυζαντίω (L. 2) is the genitive singular of the adjective Βυζάντιος. The genitive singular of nouns in ο-stem terminates in -ω in the Lesbian dialect⁵.

Translation: ‘ Cenotaph of Athanaion, son of Leontiskos, of Byzantion ’.

Fig. 1. Cenotaph of Athanaion. Photo: H. Yaman

In addition to Athanaion recorded in the current inscription, there are another five entries for this name from Byzantion in the LGPN[6]. With the exception of one dating from the Roman Imperial period, the others date between the fourth and first centuries BC. Another person named Leontiskos from Byzantion is also known in an honorary decree from Delos, dated to the middle of the third century BC⁷.

The word κενοτάφιον in this inscription does not refer to an empty grave reserved for one’s future burial, as is often the case in Asia Minor⁸. Here it literally refers to an empty grave containing no human remains⁹. Athanaion was a foreigner on the island of Tenedos and probably passed away there. The inscription does not reveal what occurred to his remains after his death. Considering his origins, it is possible that after his demise on the island they were moved to his homeland, Byzantion. Then, a cenotaph was erected on the island in his memory probably by his Tenedian friends or companions because the inscription is in the Lesbian dialect. If this is the case, he may have been also commemorated with a grave and an inscription in his homeland¹⁰.

In addition to Athanaion, another individual from Byzantion has also been documented epigraphically on Tenedos. A funerary inscription, dating to the Roman Imperial period, found on the island records the memory of a sophist named Quintus Lollius Charidemos of Byzantion, who passed away at the age of twenty¹¹. Furthermore, it is evident from the inscriptions that Tenedos Island hosted other foreigners as well, probably due to its location; one intriguing example from the island is a dedication made to the Dioscuroi by Eunomos of Rhodos and his companions, synskanoi (tent-mates), which reports that Philiskos of Rhodos, son of Hagesandros, served as a priest for the cult of the Dioskouroi¹². Another gravestone found on Tenedos commemorates an Athenian named Pamphilos¹³.

Date: 3 ^rd century BC.

2. GRAVE STELE OF APOLLONIS AND KALLIGENES

The stele, possibly originating from the necropolis, lacks information regarding its original find spot on the island and was transferred from Bozcaada to the Çanakkale Troia Museum in 2023. Made of fine-grained white marble with bluish veins, the stele shows abrasions on all sides, with a crack in the upper left corner, and some parts with spallings. The recessed depiction space is framed on either side by columns with capitals, supporting a narrow architrave. There are two small holes in the architrave at spots near the corners and another one in the middle¹⁴. To fix the stele to the ground, two rectangular holes were carved at the bottom of it. According to M. Şahin’s typology, it belongs to the architraved stelae that are classified as those ‘with a single depiction area’¹⁵. The stele features a symposium scene depicted in high relief. The facial features of the figures in the scene are damaged. In the centre, with their left arms supported by high cushions, two men wearing chiton and himation lie on a high, draped kline. They each hold a deep chalice in their left hand. A woman is depicted seated in the Pudicitia ¹⁶pose on a diphros at the feet of the man on the left. The woman’s right hand, extended towards her lap, touches the right hand of the man next to her. At the neckline, the himation is supported by her left arm, which is bent at the elbow. Ηer feet rest on a footstool. A chiton -clad maid, portrayed as a small figure, stands beside the diphros while holding out a kalathos with both hands. Supported by two legs crafted in the form of a lion’s leg and paw, a tall rectangular table is placed at the front of the kline. On the right side of the kline stands a servant with a crater behind him, ready to serve drinks to his masters. Despite the damage, he seems to be holding a kyathos, oinochoe, or a similar type of serving vessel. A large undetailed kylikeion is squeezed in between the kline and column on the right.

Symposium scenes are a commonly depicted theme in funerary stelae in Asia Minor, particularly in the Hellenistic period. Architraved stelae, featuring a s ingle depiction area and a symposium scene accompanied by various numbers of figures, were prevalent in neighbouring Mysia in the Hellenistic period but there are also examples known from the Roman Imperial period¹⁷. In addition to some types of stelae from the Çanakkale Troia Museum with a symposium scene, parallel examples to the Tenedos stele, depicting two reclining men on a kline with a woman seated at their feet and diminutive figures at either end are known, but they are not very prevalent¹⁸. Due to the posture of the figures, the carving of the folds of the dress, and the appearance of the serving figures on both sides of the scene, the Tenedos stele can be dated to the second century BC.

The current stele is 75 cm in height, 79.5 cm in width, and 28.5 cm in thickness. The height of the letters varies between 2.4 cm ( rho ) and 2.8 cm ( nu ). Inventory number: 16707. Fig. 2 and 3.

Fig. 2. Grave stele of Apollonis and Kalligenes. Photo: H. Yaman

Fig. 3. A detail of a grave stele of Apollonis and Kalligenes. Photo: H. Yaman

The inscription reads:

Ἀπολλώνις Καλλιγένη

2 Μηνοθέμεως χαῖρε

χαῖρε

Translation: ‘ Apollonis, son of Menothemis, farewell.’

‘ Of Kalligenes, farewell. ’

Apollonis can be either male or female name, Ἀπολλώνις or Ἀπολλωνίς. However, based on the depiction of two men reclining on a kline on the stele, we can presume that Apollonis (Ἀπολλώνις) in this instance is a male name. Ἀπολλώνις is a hypocoristic of a compound name composed of Ἀπόλλων¹⁹. Other hypocoristic male names terminating in -ις are also recorded in the Aeolic region of Asia; for instance, a well-known example is Κλεό(μ)μις, the hypocoristic of Κλεομένης, the tyrant of Methymna²⁰. A citizen of Alexandreia Troas named Κλεόμμις is also epigraphically attested in an inscription from Ilion dating from 77 BC²¹. Another theophoric name from the island, pertaining to Apollo is Ἀπολλώνιος which is documented in an inscription dating to the Hellenistic period²². At Alexandreia Troas on the mainland just across the island, we also encounter the names Ἀπολλόδωρος and Ἀπολλωνοφάης²³.

Μηνοθέμεως is the genitive of Μηνόθεμις. Further evidence for the genitive case of Μηνόθεμις, ending in -εως is found in a funerary inscription from Athens, dated to the third century BC²⁴. It should be noted that Menothemis, father of Menothea, recorded in this inscription, was not a native of Athens but was probably from Apollonia Pontica²⁵. L. Threatte noted that the genitive in -εως of the personal names in -ις occasionally appeared in the Hellenistic period²⁶. Prior to this inscription, there was no known occurance of the genitive -εως for personal male names in -ις in the Aeolic region of Asia; instead, examples ending in -ιδος and -ιος are recorded²⁷. Moreover, the documented compound names in -θεμις found in the inscriptions in the Lesbian dialect form their genitive singular in -θέμιδος²⁸. This is the first inscription attesting to a personal name derived from Θέμις/θέμις on the island. However, the names Θέμιστος and Θεμίστης are found in the Hellenistic period in Alexandreia Troas²⁹.

Καλλιγένη is the genitive singular of Καλλιγένης. This is a trait of the Lesbian dialect, in which personal names in -ης end in -η or -εως in the genitive singular³⁰. It is also worth mentioning that in a grave inscription from Mytilene in the Lesbian dialect, bearing the name of the deceased followed by the word χαῖρε, observing the vocative terminating in -η of a personal name ending in -ης, i.e. Μεγιστό κ λη Καϊ κ ίδα, χαῖρε³¹. R. Hodot, on the other hand, highlighted that this is a unique occurrence from the Roman imperial period in terms of the Lesbian dialect³². In our inscription, it is more reasonable to take Καλλιγένη as the genitive singular, instead of the vocative.

The name Καλλιγένης is given in the genitive case, unlike Ἀπολλώνις, which is in the nominative. However, this is not unexpected; grave inscriptions on the same gravestone belonging to different individuals from the same family did not always use the same formula to indicate the authorized ownership of the grave³³. It is likely that Kalligenes died after Apollonis, and his name was added to the stele at a later time. The inscription does not specify the familial tie between Apollonis and Kalligenes, but it is not impossible that they were brothers. Kalligenes may have omitted his patronymic from the inscription, as Apollonis had already recorded it.

Date: 2 ^nd century BC (lettering and stylistics).

3. GRAVESTONE OF TRYPHON

This gravestone was found on Tenedos as a result of a field survey carried out by archaeologists from the Çanakkale Troia Museum. It was then transferred to the museum. The monument consists of a base with dimensions of a width of 56.5 cm, a thickness of 56.5 cm, and a height of 12.5 cm. It also includes a cylindrical shaft with a height of 13 cm and a diameter of 12.5 cm. It is made of fine-grained marble. Upon initial observation, the monument may resemble a columnar capital or base. However, similar examples discovered in the excavations on the island indicate that these monuments are not actually capitals or bases; they were used in connection with the graves, serving as grave markers. On the necropolis, a comparable example was found during the rescue excavations conducted in the early 1990s. This find was located in the upper layers of a trench that contains cist and pithos graves from the Classical period. Additionally, two monuments were recently discovered during the field season of 2023, located in situ in the upper levels of one pithos grave. These examples illustrate the usage of these stones in connection with the graves. The monuments were discovered on a low quadrangular base, with a slender, elongated rectangular block standing vertically behind them (fig. 4). It is reasonable to infer that these monuments functioned not only as grave markers but also as altars, given their flat tops. None of these early examples (probably fifth or fourth century BC) bears an inscription. The present example, dated to the second/third century AD on the basis of its lettering (see below), suggests that these early monuments were repurposed as gravestones during the Roman imperial period. Above the inscription, there is a symbol that is 3.2 cm in high and resembles a horizontally flipped kappa or star. I refrain from providing any comments regarding the symbol. The height of the letters varies between 1.7 cm and 5 cm ( phi ). Inventory number: 16712. Fig. 5 and 6.

Τρύφων Ἀ κ έσω-

2 νος, χρηστέ,

χαῖρε

Translation: ‘ Tryphon, son of Akeson, farewell o good man! ’

Fig. 4. Grave marker discovered during the excavation season of 2023. Excavation photo archive, courtesy of T. Takaoğlu

Fig. 5. Gravestone of Tryphon. Photo: H. Yaman

Fig. 6. Gravestone of Tryphon from a different angle. Photo: H. Yaman

There are 15 entries in the LGPN for the name Ἀκέσων³⁴. Of these, only one comes from Asia Minor, a funerary inscription from Tralles-Seleukeia that dates to the Roman Imperial period³⁵. The rest are found in Cyrenaica and especially on Rhodes; they predominantly belong to the Hellenistic period³⁶. The appearance of the personal name Ἀκέσων in the northern Aegean could be accounted for by the possibility that this name was embraced by the community of Tenedos as a result of cultural exchanges between Rhodes and Tenedos³⁷.

Although there are no other examples of this type of short grave inscription that ends with χαῖρε on the island, examples can be found in Alexandreia Troas³⁸. M. Ricl highlighted that grave inscriptions of this type were common during the Late Hellenistic/Early Roman period³⁹. Nevertheless, based on the letter form of the current inscription, it is conceivable that the current one may belong to a later period.

Date: 2 ^nd – 3 ^rd century AD (lettering).

¹ For the report of the field season of 2021, see Takaoğlu 2023. For recent publications introducing archaeological finds from Tenedos, see Yaman 2022; Ayaz 2022; Yıldırım, Yavşan 2022. I am very grateful to Turan Takaoğlu, the director of the Tenedos archaeological project, for granting me permission to publish these finds. I would like to express my gratitude to Tolga Özhan for his support, suggestions, and kind help during this study. I am also thankful to Christopher S. Lightfoot for polishing my English. In addition, I would like to thank the directorship and staff of the Çanakkale Troia Museum, especially Osman Çapalov, for their assistance during museum visits. I would also like to thank all the VDI reviewers and the VDI editors.

² For the published inscriptions from the island, see IG XII.2 639–644 and IG XII Suppl. 144–148.

³ See Hodot 1990, 303–304.

⁴ Unfortunately, as the report on this rescue excavation has not yet been published, I do not know whether the stele is related to the grave mentioned above (no. 18), nor do I have any information about the type of the grave or grave goods, if any, it contained. Based on the verbal information provided by R. Körpe, who carried out the rescue excavations on behalf of the museum in 2002, this stele was found to have been reused as the lid of a cist grave.

⁵ See Blümel 1982, 72, 238; Hodot 1990, 93.

⁶ LGPN 4 s.v. Ἀθαναίων (6–10).

⁷ On the suffix -ισκος forming a diminutive, see Chantraine 1968, 406; Masson 1995, 709 = OGS III 228.

⁸ For this type of κ ενοτάφιον, see Kubinska 1968, 40, 45, 89–90. On cenotaphs in general, see Kurtz, Boardman 1971, 257–259.

⁹ For funerary inscriptions in verse in which the word κ ενοτάφιον and parallel phrases are used in the strict meaning of the word, see Tybout 2016, 395–397. Referring to Ricci 2006, 20–23 (Tybout 2016, 396, n. 17) also noted that ‘ κ ενοτάφιον occasionally occurs in this sense in prose inscriptions from Asia Minor’.

¹⁰ On double commemoration, see Tybout 2016, 396–397, 405, whose survey of the evidence for the movement of the remains of deceased individuals is very helpful in this respect.

¹¹ IG XII.2 643. Cf. Puech 2002, 174, no. 64. See also LGPN 4 s.v. Χαρίδημος (3, 2 ^nd –3 ^rd century AD).

¹² IG XII.2 640. B. Boyxen (2018, 293–294) suggests that the Eunomos of Rhodos and his companions may have been polis -slaves serving on Rhodian ships and that the priesthood of Philiskos to the Dioscuroi was not an official position and he may have been chosen from among the companions.

¹³ IG XII.2 642. Cf. LGPN 2 s.v. Πάμφιλος (19, 2 ^nd –1 ^st century BC).

¹⁴ On the possible function of these holes, see Şahin 2000, 16–17; Kennedy 1998, 43, fig. 3.15; Görkay 2012, 297. Cf. Özhan, Yaman 2018, 701–702.

¹⁵ Şahin 2000, 10–11, 159–184.

¹⁶ For the iconography of the seated Pudicitia type appearing on the grave stelae found in and around Kyzikos, see Cremer 1991, 81–90, fig. 10–14. For a comprehensive discussion on the types of figures depicted on stelae from Miletopolis, see Şahin 2000, 59–69. In addition, for Pudicitia types depicted on the Smyrnean stelae, see Yaylalı 1979, 36–40.

¹⁷ For the stelae of Mysia, in general, see Pfhul, Möbius 1979; Cremer 1991; Şahin 2000. For stelae of similar type and composition to the Tenedos stele, see Şahin 2000, 163, no. TB 8, pl. XXII (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 467, no. 1942; Cremer 1991, 159, no. KSt 43), 174, no. TB 27, pl. XXXIII (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 464, no. 1928; Cremer 1991, 150, no. Kst 17), 174–175, no. TB 28, pl. XXXIII (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 464, no. 1926), 175–176, no. TB 30, pl. XXXIII (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 465, no. 1931; Cremer 1991, 158, no. KSt 40), Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 464, no. 1929, 466, no. 1938, 466–467, no. 1939. Some architraved stelae featuring an alternative subject, such as a rider, positioned below the symposium scene similar to the Tenedos stele in terms of the composition are also known, see Şahin 2000, 213–214, no. KB 3, pl. LXIV, 214 no. KB 4, pl. LXV (cf. Cremer 1991, 126, no. KN 3), 215–216, no. KB 6, pl. LXVI (cf. Cremer 1991, 139, no. KH 13), 216, no. KB 7, pl. LXVI (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 317, no. 1299; Cremer 1991, 138, no. KH 12), Cremer 1991, 128, no KN 7, pl. 4 (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 287, no. 1170). A comparable depiction can also be observed on stelae featuring pediments and arches, see Şahin 2000, 201–202, no. KA 18, pl. LV (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 465, no. 1930; Cremer 1991, 137, no. KH 8), 147–148, no. TA 12, pl. VI (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 465, no. 1933; Cremer 1991, 178, no. MiSt 26); Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 467, no. 1940.

¹⁸ For stelae of a comparable type and composition to the Tenedos stele kept in the Çanakkale Troia Museum, see Yıldırım 2014, 80–81, no. K22 (Parion), pl. XXII, a–e (cf. Özhan, Yıldırım 2017, 161, no. 1), 82–83, K23 (Bandırma), pl. XXIII a–ı (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 462, no. 1919). For the stelae from the Çanakkale Troia Museum, depicting a symposium scene, in general, see Yıldırım 2014, 56, no. K5, pl. V a–c, K15 (Çanakkale), pl. XV a–b (cf. Özhan, Yıldırım 2017, 164, no. 6), 72–73, no. K16 (Sigeion), pl. XVI a–h (cf. Özhan, Yıldırım 2017, 163, no. 4), 74, no. K17, pl. XVII a–d, 75, no. K18, pl. XVIII a–b (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 371, no. 1504), 76, no. K19 (Biga), pl. a–c, 77, no. K20, pl. XX a–e, 78–79, no. K21 (Kyzikos), pl. XXI a–e (cf. Özhan, Yıldırım 2017, 164 No. 5), 84, no. K24, pl. XXIV a–g (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 450, no. 1871), 85–86, no. K25 (Kyzikos), pl. XXV a–h (cf. Pfuhl, Möbius 1979, 481, no. 2001), 87–88, no. K26 (Parion), pl. XXVI a–m, 89–90, no. K27 (Lapseki), pl. XXVII a– ı, 91, no. K28 (Ilion), pl. XXVIII a–d.

¹⁹ On -ις suffix composing hypocoristic male names, in general, see OGS I–II 634.

²⁰ For the hypocoristic male names in -ις in the Aeolic region of Asia, see Hodot 1990, 64, n. 77, 78, 89, and 113. On the name Κλεό(μ)μις, see also Masson 1986, 224–225 = OGS I–II 556–557.

²¹ I.Ilion 10, line 11; cf. LGPN 5A s.v. Κλεόμμις.

²² See LGPN 1 s.v. Ἀπολλώνιος (1030, Hellenistic). For the cult of Apollo Sminthios on the island, see Fiehn 1934, 496.

²³ LGPN 5A s.v. Ἀπολλόδωρος (304, 2 ^nd –1 ^st century BC); LGPN 5A s.v. Ἀπολλωνοφάης (69 BC). On another attestation of the name Ἀπολλωνοφάης in Alexandreia Troas, see Özhan, Kaplan 2023, 85, no. 1.

²⁴ IG II ² 8352. Cf. Threatte 1996, 103 and 109.

²⁵ See Osborne, Bryne 1996, 48, no. 1171; I.Byzance funéraires 173. Cf. Avram 2010, 370.

²⁶ Threatte 1996, 103.

²⁷ See Hodot 1990, 112.

²⁸ See Hodot 1990, 106, n. 87.

²⁹ LGPN 5A s.v. Θέμιστος (7); LGPN 5A s.v. Θεμίστης (1). In the Troad, apart from these, the names Θεμίστα ( LGPN 5A s.v. Θεμίστα) and Θεμισταγόρας ( LGPN 5A s.v. Θεμισταγόρας 8) are known from Lampsakos and Mητρόθεμις from Dardanos ( LGPN 5A s.v. Mητρόθεμις 2). On the theophoric names derived from Μήν, see Sittig 1911, 153–157; Bechtel 1917, 316; Masson 1980, 1485 = OGS I–II 327; LGPN-Ling, Mēnothemis, (URL: https://LGPN-ling.huma-num.fr/Mēnothemis; accessed on: 01.04.2024).

³⁰ See Thumb 1959, 99; Hodot 1990, 120–121.

³¹ IG XII.2 353.

³² Hodot 1990, 121.

³³ Cf. e.g. I. Kyzikos 80, 164, 241, 313.

³⁴ On this name, see Bechtel 1917, 31; Reynolds, Masson 1976, 91 = OGS I–II 247; Dobias-Lalou 2017, 487; LGPN-Ling, Akesōn (URL: https://LGPN-ling.huma-num.fr/Akesōn; accessed on: 01.04.2024).

³⁵ LGPN 5B s.v. Ἀ κ έσων.

³⁶ LGPN 1 s.v. Ἀ κ έσων.

³⁷ For the presence of the Rhodians on the island of Tenedos, see n. 12 above.

³⁸ I.Alexandreia Troas 81, 81a, 82.

³⁹ See commentary on I.Alexandreia Troas 81.

Sobre autores

Hüseyin Yaman

Autor responsável pela correspondência
Email: huseyinyaman@comu.edu.tr
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1693-6500

PhD, Asst. Professor at the Department of Archaeology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

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