Stone vessel · Palaikastro
PK Za 11
- Site
- Palaikastro
- Object
- Stone vessel
- Period
- —
- Scribe
- —
- Findspot
- —
- Edition
- GORILA IV
Text4 lines
- 1A-TA-I-*301-WA-EA-DI-KI-TE-TE-[?]
- 2[?]-REPI-TE-RIA-KO-A-NEA
- 3SA-SA-RA-MEU-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI
- 4I-PI-NA-MI-NASI-RU-[?]I-NA-JA-PA-QA
TranslationCandidate
I, Pitrī the priest, make myself a dwelling—O Diktaean of the Sanctuary—in righteousness. So, behold, may you gather! In the presence of song… […] …Behold, he opens (his eyes)!
Word by word9 words
- A-TA-I-*301-WA-EʾatainawēI make myself a dwellingConfirmed
- A-DI-KI-TE-TE-[DU-PU₂]-REʾa-Diqqitīt [dubu]rO Diktaean of the SanctuaryCandidate
- PI-TE-RIpiṭrīPitrī/Puṭrī (personal name)Candidate
- A-KO-A-NEha-kōhanthe priest (proposed title)Candidate
- A-SA-SA-RA-MEʾaššaramuprightly, in righteousness (cf. IO Za 2)Confirmed
- U-NA-RU-KA-NA-TIwannā lū kanasti / winnā lū kanastiso, behold, may you gather!Candidate
- I-PI-NA-MI-NAʾippina=mi=nain the presence ofCandidate
- SI-RU-[?]šīrūsongProbable
- I-NA-JA-PA-QAhinna yapqaḥBehold, he opens (his eyes)!Candidate
Commentary
Context: Peak sanctuary libation formula—longest liturgical inscription (11 words, 25 signs). Palaikastro dialect.
Complete 11-word liturgical inscription—longest in the corpus. The surface order is opening verb → invoked deity and title → proposed speaker’s name and priestly title → adverbial formula element → standard body → lacuna → unique closure. Davis (2013, 42–43) and Thomas (2020, 8–10) independently place PI-TE-RI A-KO-A-NE in the subject/dedicant slot, though they infer two names rather than a name plus title. Reading the pair as ‘Pitrī, the priest’ supplies the explicit subject of the first-person opening without an unattested ‘first-offering’ or an unsupported plural vocative. The lacuna between SI-RU and I-NA-JA-PA-QA separates the formula from a masculine verbal closure whose subject remains unnamed.
Epigraphic note
GORILA IV 34: side a ends A-DI-KI-TE-TE-[·], side b opens [·]-RE (RE dotted), one group round the corner with no divider, restored A-DI-KI-TE-TE-[DU-PU₂]-RE from PK Za 15 JA-DI-KI-TE-TE-DU-PU₂-RE and PK Za 8 JA-DI-KI-TE-TE-*307-PU₂-RE, as IO Za 2 restores ME and U-NA-KA-NA from the formula (GORILA V 19). GORILA allows KỤ, Ụ or DỤ for the last sign of side a. Side d SI-RU-[·], one lost sign (SI-RU-DU not excluded). Side b PI-TE-RI: the third sign is a loop on a long stroke, with neither ZA’s crossbar nor RI’s foot (GORILA dots RI); no divider after TE.