SL-2.1

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Inscription
Transliteration:	siraku :̣ þurpi
Original script:
Variant Reading:	siraku:̣þurpi
Object:	SL-2 helmet (bronze) (Inscriptions: SL-2.1, SL-2.2, SL-2.4)
Position:	front, right area"right area" is not in the list (front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside, neck, shoulder, foot, handle, ...) of allowed values for the "position" property., lower area"lower area" is not in the list (front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside, neck, shoulder, foot, handle, ...) of allowed values for the "position" property., outside
Script:	North Italic script
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	1.11.1 cm <br /> – 2.0 cm
Number of letters:	11
Number of characters:	12
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	complete
Archaeological culture:	La Tène A [from object]
Date of inscription:	second half of 5th–beginning of 4th century BC [from object]
Date derived from:	typology [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:
Alternative sigla:	none
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 330

Images

Inscriptions SL-2.1 and SL-2.2.

Commentary

First published in Mommsen 1853: Taf. I, 12a?.

Further references: Egg 1986: 227 (Nr 324), Nedoma 1995: 19 (Ia, Ib), Urban & Nedoma 2002: ???.

Pictures in Egg 1986: Abb. 138 (drawing) (= Schumacher 2004: Taf. 16, 2) and Nedoma 1995: Abb. 2–5 (photos).

Length about 13 cm. Written on the chamfer, running leftwards toward the embossed and upside-down SL-2.3. A white inlay was added sometime before 1927, possibly for photos made for Marstrander 1927, but must have been cleaned away since. Remains can still be seen in some of the deeper scratches.

The row of characters, though not at first glance unlike in appearance, may have to be separated into two inscriptions. (Compare Nedoma 1995: Ia and Ib.) The first part, henceforward called (A) (siraku:þurpi), is engraved slightly more deeply, with most strokes being scratched from bottom to top. This seems counterintuitive in the absence of an immediate obstacle like the rim in SL-2.4. It may be argued that characters in this place on a helmet are more easily applied when turning the helmet upside-down, because the chamfer can be accessed more comfortably. Compare the upside-down SL-2.3. This inscription, however, is clearly written as seen when the helmet is worn, so the writer would have had to engrave his letters upside-down. The hastae of and in part (B) are scratched top to bottom. Both parts of the inscription are indubitably sinistroverse, with only the first being turned against writing direction, while in the second instance in (B) it is written . Another difference is the execution of r, written in (A), but in (B).

Both parts are scratched somewhat clumsily, and writer's mistakes must be suspected at least once in each part. (A), after starting out fairly tidily in spite of some iterated scratches, features what looks like a cramped between the second and . While it is possible that the writer forgot the and squeezed it in after writing , the resulting þuprpi is phonetically improbable. Close inspection shows that the part branching off the hasta has been deleted with tiny scratches crossing it. The writer seems to have either prematurely added the twig of the after to the hasta meant for , or he erroneously started to write in the wrong direction – all the more understandable if he was indeed seeing his work upside-down. He also seems to have tried to accentuate the hasta with additional strokes.

It is not absolutely sure, though probable, that the two large dots between siraku and þurpi are itentional, as strictly speaking no indentations can be made out. A third dot on top of the left stroke of may belong to it. If it is a punctuation mark, it is distinctly unlike the one separating (A) and (B).

Part (B) ((ị)ar??eisṿ?(?)) begins with a single repeatedly scratched and somewhat crooked hasta, again looking a bit jammed in between the separator and . While the distance between the stroke and the right hasta of is rather big and the sequence is usually read ia, it is more likely that the two strokes both constitute the hasta – the other hasta of is scratched twice as well. engraved round with some effort is followed by a group of strokes curiously resembling the mucked up in (A). The most likely segmentation graphically would be , yielding arlþ. The fact that the twig of supposed is prolonged at an angle suggests that this was done after the right twig of supposed was seen to merge with it. The left twig of may be crooked because the writer's tool was led along the hasta for a few millimetres. and , though not very neat, are fairly well legible. The following is confined by a patch of corrosion, but no additional twig at the top (yielding can be made out. Finally, the last two strokes (or stroke carved twice), sometimes read u (???) defy interpretation. It may be observed that the inscription ends right before the last sign of SL-2.3, so that the deteriorating quality of the writing and the queer last sign may be due to lack of space.

Bibliography

AIF I	Carl Pauli, Altitalische Forschungen. Band 1: Die Inschriften nordetruskischen Alphabets, Leipzig: 1885.
CII	Ariodante Fabretti, Corpus inscriptionum italicarum, Torino: 1867. (2 volumes)
Corssen 1874	Wilhelm Paul Corssen, Ueber die Sprache der Etrusker. Band 1, Leipzig: 1874.
Egg 1986	Markus Egg, Italische Helme. Studien zu den ältereisenzeitlichen Helmen Italiens und der Alpen. Teil 1: Text, Teil 2: Tafeln, Mainz: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum 1986.
Giovanelli 1845	Benedetto Giovanelli, Le antichità rezio-etrusche scoperte presso Matrai nel Maggio 1845, Trento: Monauni 1845.
Giovanelli 1876	Benedetto Giovanelli, "Die Rhätisch-Etruskischen Alterthümer entdeckt bei Matrei im Mai 1845", Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3/20 (1876), 45–99.
Hormayr 1823	Joseph Freiherr von Hormayr, Wien, seine Geschicke und seine Denkwürdigkeiten, Wien: Franz Härter 1823.
Kretschmer 1943	Paul Kretschmer, "Die vorgriechischen Sprach- und Volksschichten (Fortsetzung)", Glotta 30 (1943), 84–218.
Markey 2001	Tom Markey, "A tale of two helmets: The Negau A and B inscriptions", The Journal of Indo-European Studies 29 (2001), 69–172.
Marstrander 1925	Carl Johan Sverdrup Marstrander, "Les inscriptions des casques de Negau, Styrie", Symbolae Osloensis 3 (1925), 37–64.
Marstrander 1927	Carl Johan Sverdrup Marstrander, "Remarques sur les inscriptions des casques en bronze de Negau et de Watsch", Avhandlinger utgitt av Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo. Hist.-filos. klasse 1926/2 (1927), 1–26.