SZ-17

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Inscription
Transliteration:	sχsi
Original script:
Object:	SZ-17 handle (bronze)
Position:	handle, side"side" is not in the list (front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside, neck, shoulder, foot, handle, ...) of allowed values for the "position" property.
Script:	North Italic script
Direction of writing:	ambiguous
Letter height:	0.4 cm – 0.8 cm
Number of letters:	4
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	embossed
Current condition:	complete, restored
Date of inscription:	5th–4th centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	typology [from object]
Type:	unknown
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	PID 198 LIR SA-28
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 136

Commentary

First published in PID. Autopsied by TIR in November 2013.

Pictures in LIR (photo and drawing).

If sinistroverse, the orientation of is unusual. The short strokes of are due to the curvature of the handle.

Compare the identical inscription SZ-38 on an iron sword. Possibly a factory mark in the Pertinentive -si, with the manufacturer's name shortened (sχ).

Further references: Battisti 1936: 495, Battisti 1944: 229, Pellegrini 1951: 316, Vetter 1954: 73.

Bibliography

Battisti 1936	Carlo Battisti, "Rivista Linguistica Etrusca 1932-35 (Prima puntata)", Studi Etruschi 10 (1936), 488–517.
Battisti 1944	Carlo Battisti, "Osservazioni sulla lingua delle iscrizioni nell'alfabeto etrusco settentrionale di Bolzano", Studi Etruschi 18 (1944), 199–236.
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)