Limestone bases with inscriptions from the "sacred area" of Istros

Dragoș Hălmagi

Archaeological excavations in the T sector of Istros (Histria) revealed an appreciable number of fragmentary inscriptions over time. The inscriptions were engraved on yellow limestone blocks, which were reused in the constructions in this area of the city. A series of rectangular bases discovered east of the temple of Aphrodite are shown to be reworked from earlier monuments, some of them with inscriptions that can be dated to the 4th century BC or perhaps even towards the end of the 5th century. Although fragmentary and difficult to exploit from an epigraphic point of view, these inscriptions can at least guide hypothetical reconstructions of the limestone monuments of older ages and hint at the ways in which the stone was reused in this region of the city.