HU-5.2

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Inscription
Transliteration:	?ịφiliẹ
Original script:	?
Object:	HU-5 bronze (bronze) (Inscriptions: HU-5.1, HU-5.2, HU-5.3)
Position:	top, foot
Script:	North Italic script (Sanzeno alphabet)
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	0.60.6 cm <br /> – 1 cm
Number of letters:	7
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	embossed
Current condition:	unknown
Date of inscription:	4th–3rd centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	typology [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	LIR SA-19 (b) MLR 305 (b)
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 331

Commentary

First published in Schumacher 1994: 315 ff. Autopsied by Stefan Schumacher in October 1992.

Images in Gempeler 1976: Abb. 11b (photo and drawing), Schumacher 1994: Abb. 5 (drawing based on the one in Gempeler 1976 = Schumacher 2004: Taf. 17,1 = LIR), MLR (photo and drawing = Gempeler 1976 photo and drawing).

Inscribed on the upper side of the bronze's base; length about 2.8 cm. Schumacher 1994 describes the inscription as follows: A hasta, damaged on top by corrosion, followed by a bar which does not touch it – or ? Then another hasta damaged in the middle, probably . The next letters are fairly well legible. The final letter is read as a small by Schumacher, based on the observation that the area above it is not corroded. The photo in Gempeler, however, does appear to show a damage; this in combination with the arbitrary smallness of and linguistic considerations – maybe an individual name in -e as in HU-5.1? – makes a reading more likely (cp. LIR).

The forms of Lambda demonstrates the inscription to be written in the Sanzeno alphabet; the inscription should be considered part of the subcorpus of the Sanzeno votive inscriptions on bronzes (as done in LIR, cp. also Ciurletti 1992: 35 f.), even though the provenance of the object cannot be verified.

Bibliography

Ciurletti 1992	Gianni Ciurletti, "Omaggio al cavaliere di Sanzeno", in: Ingrid R. Metzger, Paul Gleirscher, Die Räter / I Reti [= Schriftenreihe der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Alpenländer, Neue Folge 4], Bozen: Athesia 1992, 27–39.
Gempeler 1976	Robert D. Gempeler, Werke der Antike im Kunsthaus Zürich [= Sammlungsheft 5], Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich 1976.
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)