MA-6

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Inscription
Transliteration:	piθiemetinu / θriahis·̣
Original script:
Object:	MA-6 antler (antler)
Position:	front
Script:	North Italic script (Magrè alphabet)
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	1.11.1 cm <br /> – 1.7 cm
Number of letters:	18
Number of characters:	19
Number of lines:	2
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	complete
Date of inscription:	3rd–2nd centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	Raetic
Meaning:	'Piθie, son of Meti* ?'
Alternative sigla:	PID 225 LIR MA-8 MLR 48 TM 218479
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 162, 339

Commentary

First published in Pellegrini 1918: 186 (no. 15).

Images in Pellegrini 1918: 185, fig. 22 (drawing), LIR (photos and drawings), MLR (drawing).

Written in two lines in reverse boustrophedon, the first (length 7.8 cm) starting at the broader end of the antler piece, the second (length 4.8 cm) starting at the narrower end after the drilled hole. Both lines are aligned along the respective upper edge. The overall execution being very similar, the lines may be considered to be part of the same inscription. The letters are well legible on the comparatively undisturbed surface. In line 1, symmetrical Theta and Tau with a vertical hasta are well distinguished despite the bar of Tau being prolonged on the left. In line 2, the shape of the first letter is intermediate, with one almost straight line, and a more oblique full-length line crossing it. The letter is generally read Tau, but considering that Tau in line 1 is executed with its bar rising in writing direction, it is more likely to be Theta. The short scratch at the end of line 2 was judged to be a slip of the tool by Pellegrini. The hasta of is scratched twice. Inverted Epsilon is not unusual in Magrè, cp. MA-1, MA-8, MA-9, MA-11. Upsilon, on the other hand, consistently appears in its Magrè-form (tip-up) in all other inscriptions from Magrè. Still, the occurrence of Sanzeno-type may be attributed to the tendency to invert letters which can be observed at Magrè, rather than being considered as evidence for the mixing of the two alphabet variants. instead of , as suggested by Schumacher, can be excluded.

Line 1 contains a Raetic name formula piθie metinu. The sequence in line 2 is obscure.

On the back, at about 1.8 cm from the broader end, an arrangement of lines of varying thickness is visible near the upper and lower edges where the cut face is intact (length 2.1 cm), as is the case in all the antler votives from Magrè.

Further references: Kretschmer 1932: 140, Battisti 1936: 496 f., Vetter 1943: 80, Kretschmer 1943: 178, 189, 191, Kretschmer 1949: 32 f., Vetter 1954: 73 f., Pellegrini & Sebesta 1965: 21, Pellegrini & Prosdocimi 1967: 158, Pisani 1964: 318 (no. 134d), Tibiletti Bruno 1967: 1 ff., Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 237 f.

Bibliography

Battisti 1936	Carlo Battisti, "Rivista Linguistica Etrusca 1932-35 (Prima puntata)", Studi Etruschi 10 (1936), 488–517.
Kretschmer 1932	Paul Kretschmer, "Die Etruskerfrage und die Inschriften von Magrè", in: Axel Nelson (Ed.), Symbolae philologicae O.A. Danielsson Octogenario dicatae, Uppsala: 1932, 134–142.
Kretschmer 1943	Paul Kretschmer, "Die vorgriechischen Sprach- und Volksschichten (Fortsetzung)", Glotta 30 (1943), 84–218.
Kretschmer 1949	Paul Kretschmer, "Wem waren die raetischen Täfelchen von Magrè geweiht?", Die Sprache 1 (1949), 30–36.
LIR	Alberto Mancini, Le Iscrizioni Retiche [= Quaderni del dipartimento di linguistica, Università degli studi di Firenze Studi 8–9], Padova: Unipress 2009–10. (2 volumes)