2003.97: Dedication to Aphrodite Epekoos for the Seleucid Ruler Demetrius I and his family

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2003.97

Title

Dedication to Aphrodite Epekoos for the Seleucid Ruler Demetrius I and his family

Classification

Inscriptions

Work Type

inscription

Date

c. 159-150 BCE

Places

Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Syria or Phoenicia

Period

Hellenistic period

Culture

Seleucid

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/93800

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

24.8 x 25.8 x 2.6 cm (9 3/4 x 10 3/16 x 1 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: seven lines, in Greek,
  ΥΠΕΡ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ
  ΚΑΙ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΗΣ
  ΚΑΙ ΤΩΝ ΤΕΚΝΩΝ
  ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ ΕΠΗΚΟΩΙ
  ΤΟΝ ΒΩΜΟΝ
  ΑΠΟΛΛΟΦΑΝΗΣ ΑΠΟΛΛΟΦΑΝΟΥ
  Ο ΙΕΡΕΥΣ
  
  [Transcription:
  Ὑπὲρ βασιλέως Δημητρίου
  καὶ βασιλίσσης Λαοδίκης
  καὶ τῶν τέκνων
  Ἀφροδίτῃ ἐπηκόῳ
  τὸν βωμὸν
  Ἀπολλοφάνης Ἀπολλοφάνου
  ὁ ἱερεύς.]
  
  [Translation, published in ZPE 131 (2000) by O. Hoover: "For the well-being of King Demetrius and Queen Laodice and their children, Apollophanes the son of Apollophanes, the priest, (dedicated) the altar to Aphrodite Epekoos."]

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Arthur Houghton

Accession Year

2003

Object Number

2003.97

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

This marble plaque preserves an inscription describing the dedication of an altar for the well-being of Demetrius I Soter (162-150 BCE), his wife Laodice, and their children, made by a priest, Apollophanes, son of Apollophanes, to the goddess Aphrodite Epekoos.

Publication History

• Oliver Hoover, "A Dedication to Aphrodite Epekoos for Demetrius I Soter and His Family", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (2000), Vol. 131, p. 106-10.
• Pierre-Louis Gatier, "Inscriptions grecques et latines du Proche-Orient: Questions de provanance", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (2004), Vol. 147, pp. 139-44.
• Christopher Jones, "Cleopatra VII in Teos?", Chiron (2011), Vol. 41, 41-53, pp. 51-53, pl. 2.

Exhibition History

• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/02/2023 - 12/30/2023

Verification Level