02-06-2012, 07:55 AM
It is Greek (with some added symbols (the number in the end which is the date), foreign word(s) (INOX, I guess it is ENOX?) and possibly mistakes ΠΥΡΓΥΝ instead of ΠΥΡCΥΝ). Just read Σ instead of C, a norm in later Greek texts...
I found a reading right now :
ΚΤΙCΜΑ ΠΥΡ(ΓΟΥ) CΥΝ Θ(E)Ω ΓΙ(ΤΟΝΙΑ) ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΙΝΔ(ΙΚΤΙΩΝΟΣ) Θ' Τ(ΟΥ) ΖΜΛ'
Very possible. I saw that the C ιν ΠΥΡCΥΝ was not inscribed as the one in ΚΤΙCMΑ. In the beginning I also read CΥΝ Θ(Ε)Ω which means "with (the help of) God". This made me think that it might be a Γ (or initially meant to be one) which then would make the ΠΥΡCΥΝ ΠΥΡΓΥΝ which could be a mispelling of ΠΥΡΓΟΥ, especially since Υ is also used as ΟΥ sometimes. The ΙΝΔ(ΙΚΤΙΩΝΟΣ) part makes sense, although I do not see a Δ but a OX, which made me think that it had to do with some regional spelling of ΕΝΟΧ (which would be a name) and this double consonant coming afterwards I read as a TΘ which I understood as ΤΩ ΘΕΩ. The next being a TO (the) with the O over the T and then the date (947). Now, if the ΓΙ is indeed a mispelled ΓΕΙ(ΤΟΝΙΑ) and not, for example, an also misspelled ΓΗ (land), then the inscription is about the Macedonian "neighborhood"/sector of the city and not about a legion. The line over the letters usually indicates that it is a number, so this is why, I guess, the Θ could be seen as a 9. Yet, I do not know how it could be the 9th indiction, I would have expected the 5th (the date of creation was normally regarded to have been 5493 BC). There are some more things of interest in the reading of this inscription... I cannot personally be certain of the exact reading of each word, maybe others can be more helpful than I.
What I personally originally read when I first saw this inscription and before looking it up was :
ΚΤΙCMA ΠΥΡΓ(O)Υ (Ε)Ν Θ(Ε)Ω ΓΗ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ
ΙΝΟΧ Τ(Ω) Θ(ΕΩ) ΤΟ ΖΜΛ' (where Λ is the arrow pointing up, not the letter)
I found a reading right now :
ΚΤΙCΜΑ ΠΥΡ(ΓΟΥ) CΥΝ Θ(E)Ω ΓΙ(ΤΟΝΙΑ) ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΙΝΔ(ΙΚΤΙΩΝΟΣ) Θ' Τ(ΟΥ) ΖΜΛ'
Very possible. I saw that the C ιν ΠΥΡCΥΝ was not inscribed as the one in ΚΤΙCMΑ. In the beginning I also read CΥΝ Θ(Ε)Ω which means "with (the help of) God". This made me think that it might be a Γ (or initially meant to be one) which then would make the ΠΥΡCΥΝ ΠΥΡΓΥΝ which could be a mispelling of ΠΥΡΓΟΥ, especially since Υ is also used as ΟΥ sometimes. The ΙΝΔ(ΙΚΤΙΩΝΟΣ) part makes sense, although I do not see a Δ but a OX, which made me think that it had to do with some regional spelling of ΕΝΟΧ (which would be a name) and this double consonant coming afterwards I read as a TΘ which I understood as ΤΩ ΘΕΩ. The next being a TO (the) with the O over the T and then the date (947). Now, if the ΓΙ is indeed a mispelled ΓΕΙ(ΤΟΝΙΑ) and not, for example, an also misspelled ΓΗ (land), then the inscription is about the Macedonian "neighborhood"/sector of the city and not about a legion. The line over the letters usually indicates that it is a number, so this is why, I guess, the Θ could be seen as a 9. Yet, I do not know how it could be the 9th indiction, I would have expected the 5th (the date of creation was normally regarded to have been 5493 BC). There are some more things of interest in the reading of this inscription... I cannot personally be certain of the exact reading of each word, maybe others can be more helpful than I.
What I personally originally read when I first saw this inscription and before looking it up was :
ΚΤΙCMA ΠΥΡΓ(O)Υ (Ε)Ν Θ(Ε)Ω ΓΗ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ
ΙΝΟΧ Τ(Ω) Θ(ΕΩ) ΤΟ ΖΜΛ' (where Λ is the arrow pointing up, not the letter)
