Stone vessel · Palaikastro

PK Za 11

Site
Palaikastro
Object
Stone vessel
Period
—
Scribe
—
Findspot
—
Edition
GORILA IV

Text4 lines

Linear ATransliteration
  1. 1A-TA-I-*301-WA-EA-DI-KI-TE-TE-[?]
  2. 2[?]-REPI-TE-RIA-KO-A-NEA
  3. 3SA-SA-RA-MEU-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI
  4. 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.

Linear A Lexicon