SZ-38

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Inscription
Transliteration:	ṣχsi
Original script:
Object:	SZ-38 knife (iron)
Position:	centre"centre" is not in the list (front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside, neck, shoulder, foot, handle, ...) of allowed values for the "position" property.
Orientation:	180°
Script:	North Italic script
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	11 cm <br /> – 1.6 cm
Number of letters:	4
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	embossed
Current condition:	complete, damaged
Archaeological culture:	Late Iron Age [from object]
Date of inscription:	5th–1st centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	IR 37 LIR SA-29
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 141

Commentary

First published in Pellegrini 1951: 316 (no. 18). Autopsied by TIR in June 2015.

Image in Pellegrini 1951: 313 (no. 18) (drawing).

Length 2.3 cm; written on the blade about 3 cm from the rivet hole, facing the blunt edge. Pellegrini only gives a drawing of the letter forms and points out the inscription's similarity to SZ-17. The inscription resembles SZ-17 not only in the sequence of letters, but also in the orientation of Sigma in writing direction (a reading isχs is generally excluded, probably on phonetic grounds). If Pellegrini's drawing is accurate, the shape of Chi is slightly different.

Further references: Vetter 1954: 72 f. (no. 18).

Bibliography

IR	Alberto Mancini, "Iscrizioni retiche", Studi Etruschi 43 (1975), 249–306.
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)