Museiliha inscription
| Museiliha inscription | |
|---|---|
| Material | Limestone |
| Size | 40 cm × 54 cm × 2 cm (15.75 in × 21.26 in × 0.79 in) |
| Writing | Latin |
| Created | 100–75 BC |
| Discovered | Described in 1873 Reportedly dicovered in the vicinity of the Mseilha Fort, documented in Aabrine, Lebanon |
| Discovered by | Residents of the town of Aabrine in Lebanon |
| Present location | Louvre |
| Identification | [1] |
The Museiliha inscription is a first-century AD Roman boundary marker first documented by German classical scholar Theodor Mommsen in 1873. The inscriptions details a boundary set between the citizens of Caesarea ad Libanum (modern Arqa) and Gigarta (possibly present-day Gharzouz or Zgharta), hinting at a border dispute. The personal name of the involved magistrate was deliberately erased. The boundary marker is now in the Louvre Museum collection. The inscription is named after its reported findspot, the medieval Mseilha Fort, located in Northern Lebanon.
Description
[edit]The Museiliha boundary marker is crafted from limestone, it measures 40 cm (16 in) in height, 54 cm (21 in) in width, and 23 cm (9.1 in) in depth.[2] The stone bears and inscription of six lines in Latin:
The inscription, translated, reads: "Boundaries were established between Caesarea of Lebanon and the Gigartenians of the vicus of the Sidonians, by order of ..., procurator of Augustus, through Domitius..."[5]
Discovery history and interpretation
[edit]The marker was reportedly discovered at the Mseilha Fort by residents of the nearby town of Aabrine who brought it back to their village. The inscription was documented by the German classical scholar Theodor Mommsen in 1873;[4]
According to nineteenth-century French historian Ernest Renan, the inscription discusses the boundaries between Caesareae-ad-Libanum (modern Arqa) and Gigarta, which Renan identified as modern Gharzouz, approximately 45 kilometers away.[3] French archaeologist René Dussaud later proposed that Gigarta might correspond to present-day Zgharta.[6] This spatial arrangement suggests that the territories of Caesarea and Gigarta could not have been contiguous.[3] Mommsen, in his commentary, suggests that because the cities of Caesarea-ad-Libanum and Gigarta are not neighboring, the land in question likely belonged to Caesarea and was situated beyond its territory, adjacent to an area inhabited by the Gigartans living in a Sidonian vicus.[4][7] According to 19th century Italian historian Ettore de Ruggiero, this inscription (like many others on border stones) hints at a border dispute. The dispute was probably settled through a legal judgment, which defined the boundaries.[7] Starting from the fifth line of the inscription, personal names appear to have been carefully chiselled out, erasing the identity of the magistrate to whom the inscription referred.[8][9]
Later scholars reexamined the question of the status of Caesarea ad Libanum, Gigarta, and the vicus of the Sidonians. French archaeologist Daniel Schlumberger believed that the vicus of the Sidonians was one of the three districts of Tripoli, to which the administration of the village of Gigarta would have been entrusted,[10][11] while scholar Jean-Paul Rey-Coquais, the vicus was a village under the jurisdiction of the city of Gigarta. French historien Julien Aliquot supports the latter proposition as the text clearly indicates that the vicus of the Sidonians depends on Gigarta, not Caesarea.[11]
Dating
[edit]Nineteenth-century scholars initially dated the Museiliha inscription to the second century AD.[12] This dating has since been revised to the fourth quarter of the first century AD (75–100 AD), according to the official website of the Louvre Museum, where the inscription is housed and cataloged as inventory number AO 4898 in the Department of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities.[2][a]
See also
[edit]- Mseilha Fort – Fortress in Batroun district, Lebanon
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften 2009.
- ^ a b c Louvre Museum 2024.
- ^ a b c Renan 1864, p. 149.
- ^ a b c Mommsen, Hirschfeld & Domaszewski 1873, p. 31, insc. 183.
- ^ Aliquot 2009, pp. 77–78.
- ^ Dussaud 1927, p. 82.
- ^ a b de Ruggiero 1893, p. 443.
- ^ Mancini 1884, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Ledrain 1888, p. 69.
- ^ Schlumberger 1940, pp. 340–341.
- ^ a b Aliquot 2009, p. 77.
- ^ Harrer 2006, p. 69.
Sources
[edit]- Aliquot, Julien (2009). La Vie religieuse au Liban sous l'Empire romain. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique (in French). Beyrouth: Presses de l’Ifpo. ISBN 978-2-35159-299-1.
- Dussaud, René (1927). "Chapitre II. De Tripoli à Carné. — L'Émésène" [Chapter II. From Tripoli to Karnos. - The Emesene]. Topographie historique de la Syrie antique et médiévale [Historical topography of ancient and medieval Syria]. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique (in French). Beyrouth: Presses de l’Ifpo. pp. 75–115. ISBN 978-2-35159-464-3. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
- Harrer, Gustave Adolphus (2006) [1915]. Studies in the History of the Roman Province of Syria. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59752-463-6.
- Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (2009). "Inscription from Aabrîne (Syria)". EDH: Inscription Database. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
- Ledrain, Eugène (1888). Notice sommaire des monuments phéniciens du Musée du Louvre (in French). Imprimeries réunies.
- Louvre Museum (2024). "inscription ; borne". Louvre. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
- Mancini, Carmelo (1884). "Note e Emendazioni ai Primi Quattro Capitoli della Storia di Elvidio Prisco". Atti della Reale Accademia di archeologia lettere e belle arti (in Italian). Naples: Stamperia della Regia Universita.
- Mommsen, Theodor; Hirschfeld, Otto; Domaszewski, Alfredus (1873). Inscriptiones Asiae provinciarum Europae Graecarum Illyrici Latinae (in Latin). Georgius Reimerus.
- Renan, Ernest (1864). Mission de Phénicie Dirigée par M. Ernest Renan [Mission to Phoenicia, directed by Mr. Ernest Renan] (in French). Paris: Imprimerie impériale. OCLC 763570479.
- de Ruggiero, Ettore (1893). "L'arbitrato pubblico in relazione col privato presso i Romani". Bullettino dell'Istituto di Diritto romano (in Italian). Rome: Pasqualucci. pp. 49–443.
- Schlumberger, Daniel (1940). "Gigarteni de vico Sidoniorum". Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 84 (4): 335–342. doi:10.3406/crai.1940.77335.