New Funerary Monuments from Aizanoi

Abstract

This article analyses 33 grave inscriptions found during the 2021 and 2022 excavation seasons in the ancient city of Aizanoi. Most of the monuments presented here are doorstones and separate gables, along with a few bomoi, stelae, and a marble block, all dating back to the Roman Imperial period.These inscriptions are particularly noteworthy for the personal names they contain. When it comes to the second century AD, the citizens of Aizanoi were Hellenized to a large extent. The onomastic data that we get from the funerary inscriptions of the city confirm this too. Most of the inscriptions presented here include Greek names scarcely found in upland inner Anatolia. Masculine names like Thelymithres, Melankomas, Philostratos, or Aischines took the place of indigenous names. The indigenous names of daughters and wives like Tatiane, Aphia, Apphias, Appes, Ammia, or Babeis show that most of these men with Greek names were not Greek ethnically but Hellenized locals. Similarly, as a part of the fashion of the period, Homeric names like Menelaos and Troilos, and the names of the heroic, glorious Greek past like Solon and Alexandros are frequently attested in the inscriptions.

Keywords

• Aizanoi
• Phrygia
• funerary inscriptions
• personal names
• Roman imperial periods

Project Number

This study is supported by the Ege University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit. Project Number: 23373.

Thanks

I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Gökhan Coşkun for enabling me to work on these inscriptions.

References

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3. Günther, W. 1975. “Ein Ehrendekret post mortem aus Aizanoi.” IstMitt 25:351-56.