The paper focused on the analysis of a brickstamp recently found during archaeological inve- stigations carried out at the ancient theater of Agrigento. On the artifact they’ve been printed in a scroll a Christogram, the letter alpha and a monogram in greek letters. On the basis of its morphological characteristics and of the language and the symbolism used, it is datable to the V-VI century and certainly belongs to the ecclesiastical sphere. We advance the hypothesis that the stamp, as well as similar cases documented both in the West and in the East between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, indicates the name of the saint to whom the church was dedicated. The tile was likely part of the roof of this builiding. The hypotheses concerning the dedication of the presumed church, otherwise unknown, have been related to the wider historical, archaeological, epigraphic and topographical context of Agrigento and Sicily in Late Antiquity.
Si presenta l’analisi di un bollo laterizio rinvenuto recentemente nel corso di indagini archeo- logiche condotte presso il teatro antico di Agrigento. Il manufatto, nel cui cartiglio sono impressi in sequenza un cristogramma, la lettera ‘alfa’ e un monogramma in lettere greche, per le sue caratteristiche morfologiche e sulla base della lingua e della simbologia utilizzate è databile al V-VI secolo ed afferisce certamente all’ambito ecclesiastico. Si avanza l’ipotesi che il bollo, coerentemente con casi analoghi documentati sia in Occidente che in Oriente tra Tardoantico e Altomedioevo, rechi il nome del santo o della santa cui era dedicata la chiesa nella copertura della quale era verosimilmente impiegata la tegola. Le ipotesi riguardo la dedicazione del presunto edificio di culto, di cui non ci sono ad oggi tracce materiali, sono relazionate al più ampio contesto storico, archeologico, epigrafico e topografico di Agrigento e della Sicilia in età tardoantica.
Note preliminari su un bollo laterizio con cristogramma rinvenuto presso l'area del teatro antico di Agrigento
Luciano Piepoli
2020-01-01
Abstract
The paper focused on the analysis of a brickstamp recently found during archaeological inve- stigations carried out at the ancient theater of Agrigento. On the artifact they’ve been printed in a scroll a Christogram, the letter alpha and a monogram in greek letters. On the basis of its morphological characteristics and of the language and the symbolism used, it is datable to the V-VI century and certainly belongs to the ecclesiastical sphere. We advance the hypothesis that the stamp, as well as similar cases documented both in the West and in the East between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, indicates the name of the saint to whom the church was dedicated. The tile was likely part of the roof of this builiding. The hypotheses concerning the dedication of the presumed church, otherwise unknown, have been related to the wider historical, archaeological, epigraphic and topographical context of Agrigento and Sicily in Late Antiquity.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.