# Ancient Greek Text on Artifacts



## lax

Hi,

Could anybody help me translate the text on the following two pictures?

left part:
stkomp.com/hist/signs/big/door_writing_1_big.jpg

right part:
stkomp.com/hist/signs/big/door_writing_2_big.jpg

The whole piece that bears these engravings can be seen at

stkomp.com/hist/signs/big/door_writing_1_big.jpg

Thanks for your help!
Steve


----------



## ireney

This is a first translation so I might be a "bit" off 'cause the pictures don't help me all that much. Someone made an offering of this (?) for the sake of memory (votive offering) but I have to figure out the syntax before I say what the words brother and mother (?) do there plus figure out some more things  (If I HAD to guess I'd say it was in their memory but that symbios is currently defeating me)

I hope you get a better explanation before I wake up from my long overdue sleep but I'm pretty certain this is a sign for something votive? dedicated to the memory of someone? 

Since the pseudo links you gave aren't really helping (you put too many lower dashes there  ) anyone interested in helping you out should follow 
this link.

Off to bed (me and drakula I guess) and I promise to give it another shot if no one else visits before I come back.


----------



## lax

Sorry about the wrong links, this has been corrected now. Thanks for giving it a try. I don't know anything about Greek history & the Greek language, and so I can't give you any hints as to what this is about. This "tombstone" or whatever it is was found near Haymana, which is soutwest of Ankara, Turkey. There used to be many more of them, but locals have been gradually removing them, either to use them as working surface or in the hope of finding some hidden treasures. Again, thanks for your help and it would be really great if you could have another look at those pics when you get up.

Steve


----------



## parakseno

Sadly, combining door_writing_1_big and door_writing_2_big you don't get the full text, there are about three letters that are left out. And the pictures with the whole "monument" don't make things easier either. I suppose you don't have a picture of the text from a better angle... 
Well, I'll give it a try the next days and see what I can do...


----------



## ireney

My apologies for not having tried yet. Easter vacations just made everything go back for me. I promise to try again during this week.


----------



## parakseno

This is getting interesting... It requires all my knowledge of "Ancient" Greek (which is little - maybe too little for this). So far I've tried to decipher the letters:

ΟΥΗΡΙΣΣΙΜΟΣΤΩ?ΔΙ - It looks like a N or H
ΩΑΔΕΛΦΩΚΑΙΜΑΤΡΩΝΑ
??ΝΝΒΙΟΣΑΥΤΟΥΑΝ** - first * looks like an E, the second Ο or Θ?
?ΗΣΑΝΜΝΗΜΗΣΧΑΡ??

Based on Irene's remarks earlier...

ΟΥΗΡΙΣΣΙΜΟΣΤΩ?ΔΙ
Ω ΑΔΕΛΦΩ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΤΡΩΝΑ
??ΝΝ ΒΙΟΣ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΑΝ**
?ΗΣΑΝ ΜΝΗΜΗΣ ΧΑΡ??

Now I'll have to do some searching in the dictionaries I can find.


----------



## ireney

Parakseno you are better than I am at this! Don't forget though that "C" can stand for sigma and "V" for ypsilon. (at least these are the two that come to mind right now).

Edit: I hadn't deciphered Ματρώνα. Ματρώνα means hostess, mistress of the house so it could be (with ΜΑΤΡΩΝΑ Η ΣΥΜΒΙΟΣ ΑΥΤΟΥ) " Whatshisname [...] brother and the hostess who was living with him [...] made an offering of this for the sake of memory {in memory of?}"


----------



## parakseno

Right... I'm taking a wild guess here.
Basically I've considered all C-like letters as Σ though there are some places where these "C"s look like "O"s in a different angle. Have a look at the last "C" on the last line. If you look at door2_big.jpg it look more like an "O" (ΜΝΗΜΗΟΧΑΡ??). So I guess it's time to have a look at the text and try to find the words and seek some meaning. Hope my quite "thin" Koine dictionary  and the ones on the Internet can help me.


----------



## parakseno

Oups, didn't see your edit Ειρήνη... makes sense...

So, the first line is what's left to decipher...


----------



## Potmos

Greetins to all forumists. First post here and wild guess:

ÏÕÇÑÉÓÓÉÌÏÓ ÔÙ ÉÄÉÙ ÁÄÅËÖÙ ÊÁÉ ÌÁÔÑÙÍÁ Ç ÓÕÍÂÉÏÓ ÁÕÔÏÕ ÁÍÅÈÇÓÁÍ ÌÍÇÌÇÓ ×ÁÑÉÍ. 


Verissimus for his own brother and Matrona his wife have devoted this in memory.

It's a tombstone, right?


----------



## lax

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your replies. I wish I had a picture that shows the text in its entirety, but sadly I don't (somebody else took them). But I'm already happy with what you've been able to decipher so far. When I go down there again maybe later this year, I will try to obtain better pictures of this and other inscriptions.

Thanks again,
Steve


----------



## parakseno

Sorry, I was really busy these days... but it seems that the problem is solved after all.


----------

