Vol 84, No 4 (2024)

The verbal cliché “I buried him who had no son” appeared in the ancient Egyptian tomb autobiographies of the early and mid-Sixth Dynasty. Later, it was replaced by boasting about spending on the funerals of ‘old people’. The article examines the development of this topic and phraseology until the end of the Middle Kingdom. The Memphite official elite probably considered funeral arrangements to be an indispensable duty of the son-heir alone, but not obligatory for the rest, even very close relatives. Those ‘who had no son’ were most often paupers. However, with the massive impoverishment of the population during the First Intermediate Period, even the families of the deceased who had ‘their sons’ often did not have the means for a proper burial. Therefore, it has become a custom for ‘benefactors’ to boast about the funerals of ‘old people’ in general.

The article analyses the usage of the vessel’s name δέπας in the Ilias and the Odyssey from historical and linguistic perspective. In Homer, δέπας denotes two types of vessels: a drinking bowl and a large crater vessel. Two types of di-pa are also found in Mycenaean texts, which is confirmed by their definitions: me-zo-he (large vessels) and me-wi-jo-e (smaller vessels). The variety of ideograms and multiple synonymous terms used by Homer (κύπελλον, ἄλεισον and δέπας) demonstrate an absence of a clear understanding of the form of the vessel called δέπας. Three examples of the form δέπαϊ have an inflection with a long ῑ, which cannot be explained by positional elongation. We suggest that this form is a relic of the ancient dative *-ei, which was widespread in the Mycenaean period. Thus, the archaism of the Homeric epic is expressed both in the description of objects of the Achaean period (δέπας/di-pa) and in the grammatical forms of lexemes describing these objects.

The article examines mentions of birds – mostly the woodpecker – in the myth of Remus and Romulus according to literary and iconographic sources. The presence of the woodpecker in the story is apparently redundant. The first appearance of birds in this myth probably had an augural meaning, which over time was either forgotten or lost its sense, and the woodpecker itself became the bird of Mars.

The coins retrieved during the excavation of the ancient diasporic synagogue at Phanagoria are discussed. Almost all the coins are bronze staters minted in the names of Thothorses (AD 285/286‒309/310), Rhadamsades (AD 309/310‒318/319) and Rhescuporis VI (AD 318/319‒341/342). A hoard of 13 staters was discovered in a hidden compartment in the floor of the prayer hall. Two dozen coins were scattered under the floors of the synagogue. It is suggested that these low-value deposits were made ad hoc for apotropaic protection, which in Jewish tradition is called ayin ha-ra (‘evil eye’). Others came probably from a kuppah (charity box) as they were found with its cover in Room 2. In the middle of the sixth century the synagogue perished in a huge fire, as well as entire city.

The authors study the academic relations of Soviet historians of Antiquity with scholars from socialist countries — members of the Committee for the Development of Classical Studies “Eirene”. This Committee was created in 1957 on the initiative of A. Salač and included historians, classical philologists and archaeologists from the CSSR, GDR, USSR, PPR and other Socialist Bloc countries who sought to unite efforts to study ancient history. The authors research the ways of organizing the conferences by the Committee, the preparation of “Eirene. Studia Graeca et Latina” journal and other forms of interaction of the participants of this organization. The study takes into account official documents of Soviet research institutions and the Cabinet of Greek, Roman and Latin Antiquities of the Academy of Sciences of the Czechoslovak Republic and materials from Soviet and Czechoslovak scientific periodicals. The authors think that the participation of Soviet historians of Antiquity in the work of the Committee “Eirene” was individual, not institutional, and was determined by the scientific achievements of specialists, and not by their position in the structure of Soviet science.