Need Assistance Interpreting Ancient Greek Storefront Sign
Posted: September 4th, 2015, 7:38 pm
Good evening,
I was at an ancient history museum abroad and while there I saw a very interesting 12" long x 8" high x 2" thick marble slab. According to the museum it was a 3rd century (or so) Hellenistic storefront sign for a business that sold oil lamps. I was not allowed to take a picture, but I did write down the inscription on the marble. It was two lines of text, like this:
ΑΦΝΑΕΙΦΩΣΦΟΡΩ
ΛΑΜΓ(or Pi)ΩΝΓ(or Pi)ΑΕΙΤΟΣ
In the second line, it is possible that either the first or the second Gamma (or both) identified above are a Pi. Apparently, in ancient Greek the Gamma and Pi were very similar looking.
I wrote the letters exactly as they appear, but keep in mind, the words were not separated by spaces to make it easier.
Some people think that it translates to:
ΑΦΝΑΕΙΦΩΣΦΟΡΩ
"[person's name] the light-bringer"
ΛΑΜΓ(or Pi)ΩΝΓ(or Pi)ΑΕΙΤΟΣ
"maker of lamps."
I am happy to hear your thoughts!
I was at an ancient history museum abroad and while there I saw a very interesting 12" long x 8" high x 2" thick marble slab. According to the museum it was a 3rd century (or so) Hellenistic storefront sign for a business that sold oil lamps. I was not allowed to take a picture, but I did write down the inscription on the marble. It was two lines of text, like this:
ΑΦΝΑΕΙΦΩΣΦΟΡΩ
ΛΑΜΓ(or Pi)ΩΝΓ(or Pi)ΑΕΙΤΟΣ
In the second line, it is possible that either the first or the second Gamma (or both) identified above are a Pi. Apparently, in ancient Greek the Gamma and Pi were very similar looking.
I wrote the letters exactly as they appear, but keep in mind, the words were not separated by spaces to make it easier.
Some people think that it translates to:
ΑΦΝΑΕΙΦΩΣΦΟΡΩ
"[person's name] the light-bringer"
ΛΑΜΓ(or Pi)ΩΝΓ(or Pi)ΑΕΙΤΟΣ
"maker of lamps."
I am happy to hear your thoughts!