#h oresta

[plangentia]

PY An 657

.1 o-u-ru-to , o-pi-a2-ra , e-pi-ko-wo , .2 ma-re-wo , o-ka , o-wi-to-no .3 a-pe-ri-ta-wo , o-re-ta , e-te-wa , ko-ki-jo , .4 su-we-ro-wi-jo , o-wi-ti-ni-jo , o-ka-ra3 VIR 50 .5 uacat .6 ne-da-wa-ta-o , o-ka , e-ke-me-de , .7 a-pi-je-ta , ma-ra-te-u , ta-ni-ko , .8 a2 -ru-wo-te , ke-ki-de , ku-pa-ri-si-jo VIR 20 VIR “10‘ .9 uacat .10 a3 -ta-re-u-si , ku-pa-ri-si-jo , ke-ki-de VIR 10 .11 me-ta-qe , pe-i , e-qe-ta , ke-ki-jo , .12 a-e-ri-qo-ta , e-ra-po , ri-me-ne , .13 o-ka-ra , ‘o-wi-’to-no VIR 30 ke-ki-de-qe , a-pu2-ka-ne , .14 VIR 20 me-ta-qe , pe-i , a3 -ko-ta , e-qe-ta ,

Translation

How the watchers are guarding the coast: The o-ka of Maleus at O-wi-to-no: Ampelitawon, Orestes, Etewas, Kokkion, su-we-ro-wi-jo, o-ka-ra3 from O-wi-to-no. MEN 50.

The o-ka of Nedwatas: Ekhemedes, Amphiyetas(?), Maratheus, ta-ni-ko, at Halwon, Kuparissian kekides. MEN 20 MEN 10.

At Aithalewes, Kuparissian kekides. MEN 10. And with them, the Follower, son of Kerkos, Aerikwhoitas, at the Bay of the Deer. At O-wi-to-no, o-ka-ra. 30 MEN. ke-ki-de from A-pu2-k- 20 MEN. And with them, Aigotas the Follower.

Commentary

This is the first tablet in a series of o-ka tablets, all of which are interlinked.

o-u-ru-to - ho wruntoi - "how [the watchers] are guarding. o- is the introductory particle ὡς - "thus, how." wruntoi is transcribed as u-ru-to and is a 3rd person plural middle verb in -ntoi. IN Classical Greek, this ending is -νται due to analogy with the singular middle endings -μαι, σαι, etc. This is linked to the Homeric verb ῥῦσθαι, meaning "watch" or "guard" (alongside several other meanings).

o-pi-a2-ra - opi-hala - "coast." A direct precedent of Classical ἔφαλος, meaning "coast", or "on the shore." o-pi is an Ablaut variant of /epi/.

e-pi-ko-wo - epi-kowoi - "the watchers." Nominative plural noun, composed of e-pi ("over," etc.) and -kowoi, which is related to the Classical suffix -κόος, meaning "watcher." Cf. Delphi πυρκόοι - "watchers of the sacred fire."

ma-re-wo - Maleus. A man's name in the genitive singular. He is the supervisor, or "commander" of the o-ka.

o-ka. What is an o-ka? It is often speculated to be a military unit of coastguards (e-pi-ko-wo), but not sure. It could be etymologically related to ἄρχω - Homeric Greek shows an o- at the beginning - ὄρχαμος. o-ka could therefore be "people under the command." It could also be related to PIE root *sekh- > hokh- and meaning "something held." Nonetheless, o-ka are certainly the sub-groups into which the "coastguards" are divided.

o-wi-to-no - Owitnos. A place where the "garrison" was stationed. o-wi-ti-ni-jo in .4 is the ethnic adjective derived from this place and describes the 50 o-ka-ra3.

This is then followed by a list of men's names: a-pe-ri-ta-wo - Ampelitawon ("Mr Vine"), o-re-ta - Orestas - "Orestes," e-te-wa - Etewas, ko-ki-jo - Kokkion ("Mr Berry.") It is unclear where this list of names ends. su-we-ro-wi-jo could be another man's name, a place name, or an ethnic adjective describing what comes next.

o-ka-ra3 - nominative plural denoting a man within the o-ka. Recurs as o-ka-ra without the optional -ra3 sign later in the tablet.

ne-da-wa-ta-o - Nedwatao - Nedwatas. Genitive singular of a personal name. He is the commander of this o-ka. The name may relate to the river Neda in the Peloponnese.

A list of men's names then follows: e-ke-me-de - (H)Ekhemedes, a-pi-je-ta - Amphiyetas, ma-ra-te-u - Maratheus, and ta-ni-ko.

a2-ru-wo-te - Halwontei - locative singular of Halwon. This could be related to Ἁλοῦς in Arcadia, but this seems unlikely. Rujigh posits that it is a non-Indo-European formation.

ke-ki-de - kerkides. Unclear meaning - -ides ending suggests that it would be a type of troop. kerki- could be related to κερκίς meaning "weaving-shuttle," but the consequences of this for our translation is unclear.

ku-pa-ri-si-jo - Kuparissioi. Kyparissia continues to be a place on the coast of Messenia. The ke-ki-de here is comprised of Kuparissians.

a3-ta-re-u-si - Aithaleusi. Dative-locative of a place name.

me-ta-qe - meta-kwe - "and with." Equivalent to Greek μετά τε.

pe-i - sphehi - "them."

e-qe-ta - hekwetas - "Follower". An office of Mycenaean society that was seemingly associated with the military. Originally derived from PIE root *sekw-, meaning "follow."

ke-ki-jo a-e-ri-qo-ta - a double barrelled name + title. ke-ki-jo is almost certainly a patronymic, indicating that this was a high status individual. a-e-ri-qo-ta likely meants "he who goes about early in the morning."

e-ra-po ri-me-ne - Elaphon Limenei - "Bay of Deer." A double-barred place name. Classical Greek ἔλαφος - "deer" and λίμην "bay, harbour."

a-pu2-ka-ne - an ethnic adjective describing the kerkides.

a3-ko-ta - Aigotas - "Mr Goaty."

[fly-on-my-sweet-angel]

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