Tita Vendia vase
The Tita Vendia vase is a ceramic impasto pithosBaccum, p. 583. (wine containerBaldi, p. 126.), made around 620-600 BC,Baldi, p. 126. Blanck, p. 24, dates it 640-630 B.C.E. most likely in RomeBaldi, p. 126: "It is probably from Rome, ca. 620-600 B.C.E.".). The pithos, which exists only as an incomplete set of sherds,See photograph in Blanck, p. 24. carries one of two earliest known inscriptions in Latin language (the Vendia inscription) and is usually, but not unanimously, interpreted as the earliest instance of a bipartite female Latin name with praenomen and gentilicum.
Discovery
Etrurian type of vases
The vase belongs to a type found in Southern Etruria. In its original form, based on the collection of sherds found, it was likely to have been approximately {{convert|35|cm|abbr=on}} tall and {{convert|45|cm|abbr=on}} wide. The letters, {{convert|15-25|mm|abbr=on}} tall, had been scratched near the bottom. They were inscribed by a right-handed artisan, using reversed letter S, and with letters {{sc|VH}} instead of normal {{sc|F}} ({{sc|vhecet}} instead of fecit; according to Baccum, this rules out Faliscan origin of the vase).
Inscription
The inscription reads:
{{sc|ECOVRNATITAVENDIASMAMAR […] EDVHE}}
The lacuna between {{sc|MAMAR}} and {{sc|EDVHE}} is ten to twelve letters wide. Only part of it has been reliably filled by interpreters. The missing part probably contained the name of the second potter; the first potter is unanimously identified as Mamarcos or Mamarce.Baccum, p. 584. With the lacuna partially filled the inscription is expanded into:
{{sc|ECŌ VRNĀ TITĀ VENDIĀS MAMAR[COS … M]ĒD VHE[CED]}}
The most common English interpretation of this text is:
I am the urn of Tita Vendia. Mamarcos … had me made.Clarkson and Horrocks, p. 29.
In this interpretation, archaic {{sc|ECO}} is used where we would expect normative Latin ego, since Latin had not yet developed a separate symbol for the voiced velar {{IPAslink|ɡ}}; the personal name {{sc|vendias}} uses archaic genitive declension (as in pater familiās) which is omitted in {{sc|Tita}}, most likely due to a writing error. There are also alternative interpretations:
- that {{sc|vrna}} connects to {{sc|TITA}} as {{sc|vrna tvta}}, i.e. "this whole urn".
- that {{sc|tita}} should be interpreted as an adjective, meaning "prosperous".
- that {{sc|vrna tita}} is a piggy bank.Watkins, p. 129.
- that {{sc|tita}} is a teat that feeds Vendia wine.
Notes
{{reflist|3}}
References
- Baccum, G. C. L. M. (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=vUvIWIQMDokC The Latin dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 years of scholarship, Volume 1]. Amsterdam University Press. {{ISBN|90-5629-562-4}}.
- Baldi, Philip (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=afsDrP9K3pQC The Foundations of Latin]. Walter de Gruyter. {{ISBN|3-11-017208-9}}.
- Blanck, Horst (2008, in Italian). [https://books.google.com/books?id=sA2hRadBvSsC Il libro nel mondo antico]. Ediziono Dedalo. {{ISBN|88-220-5814-3}}.
- Clackson, James and Horrocks, Geoffrey (2007). The Blackwell History of the Latin Language. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. {{ISBN|1-4051-6209-0}}.
- Vogt-Spira, Gregor (1989, in German). [https://books.google.com/books?id=RB8hPAwlZ3YC Studien zur vorliterarischen Periode im frühen Rom]. Gunter Narr Verlag. {{ISBN|3-87808-340-8}}.
- Watkins, Calvert (1995). How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics. Oxford University Press US. {{ISBN|0-19-508595-7}}.
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Category:7th-century BC inscriptions
Category:7th century BC in the Roman Kingdom
Category:Women in ancient Rome