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Object Type: block
Museum number: 1881,0824.138
Description: Fragment of white marble plaque bearing an alphabetic Greek inscription; complete on the top but broken on the other three sides; remains of three liens of text, apperantly a fragment of a dedication to Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II and his Queen Cleopatra III as 'Benefactor Gods' (theoi euergetes).
Cultures/periods: Hellenistic
Production date: 145 BC-116 BC (?)
Production place: Made in: Cyprus
Excavator/field collector: Excavated by: Max Ohnefalsch-Richter
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Salamis (historic - Cyprus)
Materials: marble
Dimensions: Height: 12.05 centimetres; Thickness: 5.05 centimetres; Width: 7.90 centimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: The date proposed by Pouilloux et al. 1987 is based on the assumption that the king named in the text is Ptolemy VIII whose queens were Kleopatra II and III. His complex, not to say lurid, marital history is outlined by Ogden (1999, 870-93). Bibliography: Ogden D. 1999, Polygamy, prostitutes and death. The Hellenistic dynasties (London: Duckworth)
Bibliographic references: Inscription / The Collection of Ancient Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum (384); Pouilloux et al. 1987 / Salamine de Chypre XIII. Testimonia Salaminia 2 (no. 68)
Location: Not on display
Subjects: king/queen; deity
Associated names: Named in inscription: Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II; Named in inscription: Cleopatra II (?); Named in inscription: Cleopatra III (?)
Acquisition name: Donated through: Claude Delaval Cobham
Acquisition date: 1881
Department: Greek and Roman
Registration number: 1881,0824.138

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