Ricerc@Sapienza

The -ps- > -ss- regressive assimilation is admittedly part of a general weakening drift of syllabic codas in late latin, as in the cases of -kt- > -tt- / -xt-, -ks- > -ss- and so forth. The early Plautinian noun issula “mistress” (< ipsula) in a corrupt passage of Cistellaria (v. 450) is traditionally interpreted as the very first occurrence of this well-known vulgar latin phenomenon (cf. ital. esso, scrisse etc.). After a thorough inspection of all the available evidence, both in the inscriptions and in the literary texts, three points should be underlined.

La Missione Archeologica Italiana nel Kurdistan Iracheno (MAIKI) è attiva dal 2006 in diverse aree della regione autonoma curda dell’Iraq, e tra queste nella zona del sito di Paikuli situato a circa cento chilometri in direzione sud-est della città di Sulaimaniyah a cavallo degli attuali distretti provinciali di Darbandikhan e Kalar. MAIKI ha costantemente promosso un approccio multidisciplinare al patrimonio culturale curdo, tenendo conto degli aspetti archeologici, antropologici, di conservazione e di promozione.

Un team congiunto di ricercatori curdi e italiani guidati dall’autore di questo contributo lavora dal 2006 presso il Monumento di Pāikūlī nella provincia curdo-irachena di Sulaymāniya. Esso venne eretto per volontà del re Narseh nell’area, sita ai confini nord-orientali della provincia dell’Asōrestān, in cui aveva ricevuto giuramento di fedeltà da una delegazione di nobili e dignitari dell’Ērānšahr una volta asceso al trono sasanide in seguito alla vittoria in Armenia su Wahrām III.

This paper aims at presenting some inscribed small finds from former excavations carried out in the years 2006-2011 at Elaiussa Sebaste in Cilicia, under the auspices of the University of Rome, Sapienza. An inscribed base of a glass bottle, a lead seal, two glass weights, a bronze ring and an inscribed potsherd will be analysed, so as to give new dignity to these items that were until now neglected. All the objects are pertaining to the late Roman or early Byzantine period, mainly from the sixth until the mid-seventh century AD.

The paper focuses on the epigraphic evidence of the excavations in the so-called Temple A. They contribute to our knowledge of late antiquity, not only in Laodicea but also in the entire province of Phrygia. Significantly, they testify to the importance of pagan cults and, accordingly, of civic praise of emperors, to the exercise of power. Epigraphic evidence ranges from the first tetrarchy to Constantine’s reign.

The linguistic situation in Iran at the beginning of the Islamic era is described in a famous passage going back to Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ that has been discussed at length by scholars. Here new evidence based on Middle Persian inscriptions from the northern regions of historical Iran are introduced. These texts show that literacy was comparatively widespread in Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Iran, opening the way for a new understanding of linguistic developments in the years that have been dubbed do qarn-e sokut “two centuries of silence”.

The article presents a new reading of the Middle Persian inscriptions recently found in the Bandian temple in North Khorasan, Iran. Taking into account the previous readings by Gignoux and Bashshash, a complete review of the inscriptions is proposed, leading to an innovative understanding of the monument.

In this article, I propose a holistic interpreta- tion of a well-defined corpus of third millennium BC in- scribed artefacts, focusing on the relationships between text (format and content), the artefact, and its original destination and deposition. I aim to underline the social dimension of inscribed objects and, in general, of writing in votive depositional contexts. As a case study, I have focused on the inscribed artefacts found in level VIIB of the Inanna Temple at Nippur.

The contribution discusses a seal matrix, said to have been found ‘near Norfolk’ in the early 1980s, set with an inscribed Arabic cornelian intaglio. The matrix is of bronze and its Latin inscription is not unusual and reads: Ie Sv Sel Bon E Lel (I am a seal good and loyal). Seal matrices of this type employing re-used gems are not rare and similar objects have been found in Norfolk. What renders this example special is its gem which contributes to the archaeology of Islamic contacts in Britain.