THE KASSITEROS PROJECT

Primary source · c. 550–500 BC onward (composite evidence series)

Epigraphic evidence for κασσίτερος and related terms

The epigraphic dossier provides a control against literary geography: metal words occur in inventories, dedications and economic documents in contexts where the object, quantity or transaction may be more tightly constrained than in narrative prose. The anthology’s SEG examples therefore help distinguish the history of a word from later stories about where the metal came from.

An antiquarian drawing of an ancient Greek stone inscription.
Early nineteenth-century published drawing of an ancient Greek inscription. Edward Daniel Clarke (1810) · Wikimedia Commons · source · Public domain

Why this source matters

The epigraphic dossier provides a control against literary geography: metal words occur in inventories, dedications and economic documents in contexts where the object, quantity or transaction may be more tightly constrained than in narrative prose. The anthology’s SEG examples therefore help distinguish the history of a word from later stories about where the metal came from.

Primary-source dossier

The excerpts below are reproduced from the Ictis Anthology — a working paper produced during research for the project. Some of the results were spun off into New Perspectives on the Ictis of Pytheas of Massalia.

SEG 42:972

This inscription was recorded at Emporion, the modern Empúries in the Costa Brava region of northern Catalonia. Emporion was a greek trading colony established by phocaean greeks in the early 6th century BC. It mentions “Καρ]π[ητανῶν” e.g. the Carpetani people of Carpetania in central Spain. The date attributed in IG is c550-500 BC. See Pleket (1995, p282)

[— — — — —]αν θήϊον ὠνῆσθαι βὰς πέδ[ον Καρ]π[ητανῶν1 — — —]

[— — — — —]αν ἄρσαν παρακομίσεˉν2 {²⁶παρακομίζειν3}²⁶ κα[σσίτ]ερ[ον — — —]

Source: Packard Humanities Institute, Searchable Greek Inscriptions, text 332676

SEG 46:1277

This inscription from “Sikelia”, perhaps modern in the modern Castelvetrano near Marinella di Selinunte, in Sicily. It is thought to date from the mid 4th century BC. It talks about how the people of the “holy lands” (ιερῶν ἔπεων) live modestly (κεκολασμένως) but with tin writing (γράμματα) covering (καλύψει) their houses.

ℎό̣στις τῶν[δ’] ℎιερῶν ἔπεων ἀρίσημα κ<α>λ<ύ>ψ<ει>
γράμματα κασσιτέρωι κ<ε>κολαμμένα λᾶος ἐν οἴκωι,
οὔ νιμ πημανέουσι ℎόσα τρέφει εὐρεῖα χθὼν
οὐδ’ ὅσα πόντωι βόσκει ἀγάστονος Ἀμφιτρίτη {Σ}

Source: Packard Humanities Institute, Searchable Greek Inscriptions, text 333375

Other Epigraphy

Other epigraphs mentioning tin exist for Delos:

  1. CID 2:62 Delphi : Phokis : Delphi
  2. CID 2:113 Delphi : Phokis
  3. FD III 5:25 Delphi : Phokis
  4. IG IX,1 691 Phokis, Lokris, Aitolia, Akarnania, and Ionian Islands (IG IX,1) : Ionian Isl.
  5. ID 320 Delos
  6. ID 372 Delos
  7. ID 379 Delos
  8. ID 385bis Delos
  9. ID 421 Delos
  10. ID 439 Delos
  11. ID 442 Delos
  12. ID 443 Delos
  13. ID 444 Delos
  14. ID 457 Delos

  1. Καρπητανῶν is mentioned in Strabo 3.2.1. (greek, english)

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  2. “Transporters” LSJ

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  3. Parakomizein “to carry over”; LSJ, Logion

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Bibliography and editions

Critical editions and further reading

  • Corpus. Searchable Greek Inscriptions, Packard Humanities Institute. Open reference.
  • Reference. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum (SEG), cited by individual SEG number and publication page where supplied in the anthology. Open reference.

Supplemental digital resources

  • Primary epigraphic corpus. Packard Humanities Institute, Searchable Greek Inscriptions. Open resource

Rights boundary. Ancient texts and public-domain images are not relicensed by Kassiteros. Modern editions and translations retain their own rights. Only Kassiteros-authored commentary and original project metadata are intended to fall under the project’s CC BY 4.0 policy.