SZ-15.2

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Inscription
Transliteration:	enpeθa?§
Original script:	?
Object:	SZ-15 bronze (bronze) (Inscriptions: SZ-15.1, SZ-15.2)
Position:	back
Script:	North Italic script (Sanzeno alphabet)
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	11 cm <br /> – 1.8 cm
Number of letters:	6
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	embossed
Current condition:	complete
Date of inscription:	5th–1st centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	IR 28 LIR SA-3b
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 135, 336

Images

Object SZ-15 bronze with inscription SZ-15.2 - rear side.

Commentary

First published in Pellegrini 1951: 315 f. (no. 15b). Autopsied by TIR in October 2014.

Images in Pellegrini 1951: 313 (15b) (drawing), LIR (photo and drawing = IR).

Inscribed on the back of the bronze, starting from the tail fin, with characters extending over the entire breadth of the object. Length of the entire sequence 9.5 cm. After the first six characters, which appear to be letters, a hasta with three bars, two sloping downward, one upward. The character was originally read as in reference to enpeθav in SZ-1.2; Mancini suggested an alternative reading . After a gap of about 0.5 cm, a St. Andrew's cross overlaid by five short verticals; beyond the drilled hole, another group of lines (see drawing). The latter two groups are clearly ornamental, but note the near-equivalence of the elements of the middle group with that in SZ-1.2. The inscription may well be a factory mark – note that SZ-1.2 appears on a very similar fish-shaped bronze. The letters could either spell out (part of) a name or other designation, or represent pseudo-script. Pellegrini 1951: 328 suggests a pricemark. Cp. SZ-4.2 / SZ-5.2, also similar bronzes, with the same symbol on the back.

Further references: Mayr 1952: 176 f. (15b), Vetter 1954: 70 (15b).

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)
Mayr 1952	Karl M. Mayr, "Zu den Inschriften der Votive von Sanzeno", Der Schlern 26 (1952), 175–177.