Funerary Eagles. An Unpublished Stele from Zeugma with a Greek Inscription

Abstract

This article aims to present a stele with an inscription purchased in France by its current owner, an antique dealer from Alicante, Spain. The combination of the stele's structural characteristics with its iconography and text allows it to be attributed without a doubt to the ancient Syrian city of Zeugma, now Belkıs in Turkey. The piece is published here with epigraphic and iconographic analysis. Special mention is made of the anthroponym and the funerary formula, which allows for two possible interpretations, and particular attention is paid to the iconography of the funerary eagle, a recurring motif on male funerary steles from this city in Roman times. The existing theories on the possible interpretation of the motif – cultic, related to the past life of the deceased or related to the afterlife – are discussed, considering the epigraphic formula and iconographic parallels from Asia Minor. Taking into account the historical and geographical context of Zeugma, it is concluded that the motif possibly represents the deceased in the afterlife, although the inhabitants of Zeugma would also see in it a symbol of the principal male god, as protector, and a symbol of identity for the city that was home to two Roman legions.

Keywords

• Greek epigraphy
• Zeugma of Syria
• Asia Minor
• funerary stele
• eagle
• Roman period

Mezar Kartalları. Zeugma’dan Yunanca Yazıtlı, Yayınlanmamış Bir Stel

Öz

Bu makale, İspanya’nın Alicante kentinden bir antikacı olan şimdiki sahibi tarafından Fransa’da satın alınan yazıtlı bir steli sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Stelin yapısal özellikleri ile ikonografisi ve metninin birleşimi, stelin hiç şüphesiz antik Suriye kenti Zeugma’ya (günümüzde Türkiye’de Belkıs) atfedilmesine olanak tanımaktadır. Eser burada epigrafik ve ikonografik analiziyle birlikte yayımlanmaktadır. İki olası yoruma izin veren antropo-nim ve mezar formülünden özel olarak bahsedilmiş ve Roma döneminde bu şehirden gelen erkek mezar stelle-rinde tekrar eden bir motif olan mezar kartalının ikonografisine özellikle dikkat edilmiştir. Motifin olası yorumu-na ilişkin mevcut teoriler - kült, ölen kişinin geçmiş yaşamıyla ilgili ya da ölümden sonraki yaşamla ilgili - epigra-fik formül ve Küçük Asya'daki ikonografik paralellikler göz önünde bulundurularak tartışılmaktadır. Zeugma'nın tarihi ve coğrafi bağlamı göz önünde bulundurulduğunda, motifin muhtemelen öbür dünyadaki ölüyü temsil ettiği, ancak Zeugma sakinlerinin bu motifte aynı zamanda koruyucu olarak baş erkek tanrının bir sembolünü ve iki Roma lejyonuna ev sahipliği yapan kent için bir kimlik sembolünü gördükleri sonucuna varılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Yunan epigrafisi
• Suriye
• Küçük Asya
• mezar steli
• kartal
• Roma dönemi

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