SL-2.1

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Inscription
Transliteration: siraku : ̣þurpi : ar??eisṿ?(?)
Original script: ?V3 sS sI sE s??R2 sA sI spunctuation4 sI sP2 sR sU2 sÞ3 spunctuation2 sU2 sK sA sR sI sS d
Variant Reading: siraku:̣þurpi:ịar??eisṿ?(?)

Object: SL-2 helmet (bronze)
(Inscriptions: SL-2.1, SL-2.2, SL-2.4)
Position: front area"front area" is not in the list (front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside, neck, shoulder, foot, handle, ...) of allowed values for the "position" property., left area"left 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: 10 – 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

Commentary

First published in Mommsen 1853: Taf. I, 12a?.
Further references: Egg 1986: 227 (Nr 324), Nedoma 1995: 19, Urban & Nedoma 2002: ???.
Pictures in Egg 1986: Abb. 138 (drawing) and Nedoma 1995: Abb. 2–5 (photos).
Length about 13 cm. Written on the Kehle, 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 signs, 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:turpi), 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 signs in this place on a helmet are more easily applied when turning the helmet upside-down, because the Kehle 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 E s and I s in part (B) are scratched top to bottom. Both parts of the inscription are indubitably sinistroverse, with only the first S d being turned against writing direction, while in the second instance in (B) it is written S s. Another difference is the execution of r, written R s in (A), but R2 s 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 P2 s between the second U2 s and R s. While it is possible that the writer forgot the P2 s and squeezed it in after writing R s, the resulting tuprpi is phonetically improbable. Close inspection shows that the twig has been struck out with tiny scratches crossing it. The writer seem to have either prematurely added the twig of the P2 s after R s to the hasta meant for R s, or he erroneously started to write R s 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 turpi are itentional, as strictly speaking no indentations can be made out. A third dot on top of the left stroke of U2 s may belong to it. If it is a punctuation mark, it is distinctly unlike the one separating (A) and (B).
Part (B) begins with a single repeatedly scratched and somewhat crooked hasta, again looking a bit jammed in between the separator and A5 s. While the distance between the stroke and the right hasta of A5 s 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 A5 s is scratched twice as well. R2 s engraved round with some effort is followed by a group of strokes curiously resembling the mucked up P2 sR s in (A). The most likely segmentation graphically would be Þ3 sL2 s, yielding arlt. The fact that the twig of supposed L2 s is prolonged at an angle suggests that this was done after the right twig of supposed Þ3 s was seen to merge with it. The left twig of Þ3 s may be crooked because the writer's tool was led along the hasta for a few millimetres. E s and I s, though not very neat, are fairly well legible. The following V s is confined by a patch of corrosion, but no additional twig at the top (yielding E s can be made out. Finally, the last two strokes, 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.