AIUK11 no. 14 Funerary stele of Diodora daughter of Nikephoros

Funerary stele of Diodora daughter of Nikephoros

AIUK 11 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) no. 14 Date: Late 1st cent. BC

Διοδώρα ⟦traces ?⟧ «Νικηφόρου» Ἀντιόχισσα.

Relief

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Translated text

References:

AIUK 11 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) no. 14 (Translated text) (AIO) (AIUK)

IG II² 8151 (PHI)

Conze IV no. 2092

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

AIO Images: 1 2

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: Agia Paraskevi, Markopoulo Mesogaias, Attica (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford ANChandler 2.93)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is one of ten inscriptions acquired by George Wheler on his visit to Athens in 1676 and donated to the University of Oxford 1683 (cf. AIUK 11 (Ashmolean), no. 4). It was found in the Church of Hagia Parasevi in Markopoulo Mesogaias (near ancient Hagnous).

Diodora was a foreign resident of Athens in the first century BC, originally from Antioch. There were several cities of this name and it is unclear which one Diodora came from. The findspot of this stele suggests that she was buried in Hagnous or a nearby deme in central Attica, rather than in Athens itself. The stele was originally created in the fourth century BC, but was repurposed for Diodora in the first century BC. The only feature of the original stele which survives are the rosettes below the inscription. When it was repurposed, the original inscription was erased and replaced with the current inscription. The erasure has left a visible indentation in the stone in l. 2 and some traces of the original inscription remain visible. The relief below the rosettes was probably added when the stele was reworked. It depicts Diodora and an anonymous male figure grasping each other’s right hand in a gesture called dexiosis. The reappropriation of funerary monuments was common at Athens (for more on this phenomenon, see AIUK 8 (Broomhall), especially no. 5). In a final stage of modification, an ornate serifed “W” was added between the rosettes in early modern times; it probably stands for “Wheler.”

For more detailed discussion of the inscription see AIUK 11 (Ashmolean), no. 14.

Added: 14 Jan 2021
Updated: 17 Feb 2021
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ID: AIO_2108