Description:
Fragments of painted wall-plaster,
found in small pieces fallen from the wall of a room. Incised with B.4, B.5,
B.6, B.7, B.8, B.9, B.10,
B.11, B.12, B.13, B.14, B.15, B.16, B.17,
B.18, B.19, B.20, B.21,
B.22, B.23, B.24, B.25,
B.26, B.27, B.28, B.29,
B.30, B.31, B.32, B.33,
B.34, B.35, B.36, B.37,
B.38, B.39, B.40.
Text: Scratched on painted plaster.
Letters: Comparatively neat Greek capitals. Second half of the second or third century CE.
Date: Second half of the second or third century CE
Findspot:
Berenike:
Sidi Khrebish, Building H. At a date late in the life of the house the room must have been open to the public who scratched graffiti
on its walls; it seems probable that it had in fact become an hotel.
Original location: Findspot.
Last recorded location:
Benghazi Museum.
English translation
Translation by: Editors
. . (denarii) . . . pile (denarii) . . .
Commentary
The denarius sign in two lines suggests that this was a record of purchases, a type of graffito which is quite common at Pompeii; but none of the standard meanings of χῶμα (pile of earth, mound, tomb) seems to give good sense. What seems to be implied is something in common use, perhaps created by piling up its constituents.
Bibliography: Reynolds, 1974-1975, B.ix whence Robert, Bulletin Épigraphique, 1975.793; Reynolds, 1978, 6.ix, whence SEG 28.1558; observations in Reynolds-Kenrick, 2015, C.I.6.
Text constituted from: Transcription (Reynolds).
Images
None available (2020).