Abstract
Two abecedaria are examined in the article. They have been found out during the recent archaeological excavations at Phanagoria. The abecedaria are dated back to the late 6th – early 5th century BC. The fi rst abecedarium is incised on the bottom of black ware attic kylix and it has survived well. It has an inscription: ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΙΘ | Α Ν Π. The letters are a part of the ancient Greek alphabet and their shapes have strong parallels in the Ionic script of the Late Archaic period. The error in the alphabetical series, where an author incised specially iot between dzeta and theta, suggests that the graffiti 1 is a pupil exercise. Apparently, it represents a record of numbers from 1 to 10, then the author cut A = 1, N = 50, Π = 80. The second graffi ti is carved on a half of black ware attic cup-scythos from Attica. It represents the beginning of ancient Greek alphabet (АВГΔ) and an uncertain image after it. It might be an image of a tree leaf or a blade of sword. A chip destroys the right part of the cup-scyphos bottom separated by an incised line. The graffiti 2 is also considered as a pupil alphabetical exercise with a drawing.
Keywords
Late Archaic, Bosporus, Phanagoria, Ancient Greek graffiti, pupils’ records
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