SZ-97

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Inscription
Transliteration:	(?)ạχsni?[
Original script:	]?(?)
Object:	SZ-97 handle ()
Position:	front
Script:	North Italic script
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	1.31.3 cm <br /> – 1.7 cm
Number of letters:	6
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	damaged, incomplete
Date of inscription:
Date derived from:
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	MLR 142

Commentary

First published in MLR.

Image in MLR (photo).

The object is broken into multiple fragments (now restored), damaging the inscription. The clearest part is the middle bit (Khi and Sigma). On the right, three lines which cannot be arranged into anything but , though they do not even come close to converging. This putative Alpha may be the beginning of the inscription (length in this case: 4.6 cm). Further to its right, at a distance of about 0.5 cm, two near-vertical lines; both are made up of two lines each, which do not quite meet – is unlikely. Another line, broader and deeper than the others, is situated over the right one of the two drilled holes on this end. Maybe some type of decoration? The letter after Sigma is read as San by Marchesini, but the hasta on the left, damaged by a break with lacuna on top, does not meet the bar (the very tip of the bar is visible on the fragment on the left). is also more plausible phonetically. The last letter is either , or , the remains of a second bar being clearly visible. The drilled hole on this end of the object is situated under the bars of this last letter, so the inscription can miss one or two letters at most (unless it went on on the other grip plate). No interpretation immediately suggests itself, but a Raetic name, maybe ending in -nu/-na, is thinkable.