Tablet of Antiochus I from Samsat
TNMM 801 ↔ CIMRM 33
Black basalt tablet (H. 0.787 Br. 0.35 D. 0.225), found on the banks of the Euphrates near Samosate. London, Br. Mus.
Remnants of a relief, on which Apollo* with aureole, holding out his hand to Antiochus I of Commagene. At the bottom an inscription. After a short introduction, the tendency of which is similar to that of the large inscription of Nemrud-Dagh, there are the following lines:
19. Ἐγὼ πατρώϊαν βασιλείαν παραλαβὼν παρὰ
Διὸς τε Ῥωμαίου καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος Μίθρου Ἡλίου Ἑρ-
μοῦ καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος Ἡρακλέους Ἄρεως, καὶ ποιη-
σάμενος παλαιᾶς δυνάμεως [καὶ τύχης νέας τῆς ἐ]-
μῆς ἡλικίας θεῶν μεγάλων [τὴν ἀρχαίαν τιμήν]
ἐν ἱεροῖς τε λυδίας μιᾶς περὶ [βωμοῦ δαιμόνων οὐρα]-
25. νίοις χαρακτῆρα μορφῆς ἐμῆς [ἐπινεοῦς σύνθρονοι]-
ν εἰς δεξιὰς παρέστηκα, μεμνήμενα δικαίου φύλαξ-
σων ἀθανάτου φροντίδος...
* Herakles previously identified as Apollo. —The British Museum
Main inscription
Διὸς τε Ῥωμαίου καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος Μίθρου Ἡλίου Ἑρ-
μοῦ καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος Ἡρακλέους Ἄρεως, καὶ ποιη-
σάμενος παλαιᾶς δυνάμεως [καὶ τύχης νέας τῆς ἐ]-
μῆς ἡλικίας θεῶν μεγάλων [τὴν ἀρχαίαν τιμήν]
ἐν ἱεροῖς τε λυδίας μιᾶς περὶ [βωμοῦ δαιμόνων οὐρα]-
νίοις χαρακτῆρα μορφῆς ἐμῆς [ἐπινεοῦς σύνθρονοι]-
ν εἰς δεξιὰς παρέστηκα, μεμνήμενα δικαίου φύλαξ-
σων ἀθανάτου φροντίδος...
References
Yorke-Hogarth in JHS XVIII 1898 312 No. 143; Dittenberger OGIS No. 404; Marshall Ancient Greek Inscr. Br. Mus. IV (2) 182 No. 1048; Jalabert-Mouterde Inscr. Syrie 58f No. 52 from which our text.
- Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef (1956) Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae
- The Trustees of the British Museum (2024) stela | British Museum.
- V. W. Yorke (1898) ‘Inscriptions from eastern Asia Minor’. Journal of Hellenic Studies, XVIII.
