SZ-68

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Inscription
Transliteration:	LṬ VALENTINỊ
Original script:
Object:	SZ-68 knife (iron)
Position:	handle, proximal
Script:	Latin script
Direction of writing:	dextroverse
Letter height:	0.50.5 cm <br /> – 0.8 cm
Number of letters:	11 – 12
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	embossed
Current condition:	complete, damaged
Date of inscription:
Date derived from:
Type:	prob. mark of possessor
Language:	Latin
Meaning:	'of Lucius T. Valentinus'
Alternative sigla:	IR 67 LIR SA-82
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 148

Images

Object SZ-68 knife with inscription SZ-68.

Commentary

First published in Franz 1953: 176 f. Autopsied by TIR in November 2013.

Images in Franz 1953: Abb. 2 (photo and drawing), Nothdurfter 1979: 101 (84) (drawing) and IR (photo tav. L, fig. c and drawing = LIR).

Inscription length about 7.3 cm. Embossed with a punctiform punch; heavily corroded. The plausible dextroverse Latin reading with a and e in Roman cursive form was proposed by Franz. Mancini limits himself to tentatively reading the middle section valen. The very end of the inscription is hard to read: Two somewhat curious wiggles, darker in colour than the strokes before, may or may not be relevant. Franz took the entire group into account by reading VALENTINUS in the nominative with a ligature of and (see his drawing). The small indentations of which the strokes are made up can still be seen in some of the letters; they are visible in a stroke just to the right of , but not in the darker area, hence our reading VALENTINI with the name in the genitive. Both readings are possible epigraphically and pragmatically, assuming that the name is that of the knife's owner.

Faint traces of probably intentional strokes can be discerned on the other side of the hilt as well, the only recognisable character being . They were suspected by Franz to be a repetition of the inscription.

Bibliography

Franz 1953	Leonhard Franz, "Epigraphische Kleinigkeiten", Der Schlern 27 (1953), 176–178.
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)