Gold Fluted Bowl from Olympia, Greece (500 BCE)

Gold Fluted Bowl with text from Olympia, Greece (500 BCE)
Dimensions Height: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.); diameter: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.). Weight: 835.46 grams (29 1/2 oz.). Now at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Accession Number 21.1843. It was acquired from a collector in 1921. The collector described the find location as:
  • coming "from Olympia, discovered five years ago (so 1916) east of the Altis between the stadium and the river Alpheios, in the bank of a small torrent formed by winter rains."

Alpheios was the sacred grove of Zeus. It was an irregular quadrangular area more than 200 yards (183 m) on each side. It was walled except to the north where it was bounded by the Kronion (hill of Cronus). In it were the temple of Zeus, temple of Hera, and small treasuries built by various Dorian states. It also contained the administration buildings for the Olympic Games. So apparently some spring floods eroded away a cache of temple valuables hidden during some time of troubles, possibly the drought of 499 BCE. In 472 BCE the sanctuary was renovated and the temple of Zeus was erected shortly afterward  being dedicated in 457 BCE.
Bowl online at: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/238352/libation-bowl-phiale-mesomphalos

Gold Fluted Bowl from Olympia, Greece - 500 BCE (Med Text 29)

(Jan 24, 2023) This text mentions the roles of the two power classes of the Ancient Pagan Paradigm (life class and the motion class). It mentions the connective motion hermaphrodite deity Thu (Athu, Athena) along with the magical emotion owls (Athenian owls). Olympia is on the Peloponnese. The text also mentions the life manifestation god of Yahu (Yahweh). The Alphabetic Akkadian text reads:

  1. Life-Threads are due to ritual-roast-offerings. Emotional-energy is activating the life-manifestations.  Those are being activated by considerations (focused emotions).  Nourish Thu's goodness.
  2. Give tribute to the seers.  Emotion-owls are energizing Yahu's fertility-fluids

Comment

Line 1: The "life-threads" comprise the network channels which distributes the life powers as fertility fluids to the earth where they trigger the manifestation of life-forms by Yahu. This text is saying that the roast offerings in rituals maintain the thread's effectiveness. In contrast, focused emotional energy (considerations) done in magical rituals is responsible for the actual manifestations because that is needed to push the fertility fluids through the channels. Magic provides the pressure.

Line 2: The temple of Olympia originally had diviners (seers) but during the classical era it lost out in that area to Delphi. Consequently, it turned to the Olympic games to bring in people. 

Failed Greek Translation Attempt at Museum Site

The letters of the names are not even correct showing this is a fake translation. The museum does not provide the name of the translator.

A more angled view in a grayscale image showing the initial letters.

Translation

This is a mix of Etruscan and Greek letter styles. In fact an Etruscan "K" is used on the left while a Greek "K" is used on the right. This dates it to between 500 and 400 BCE on epigraphic grounds.

Translation in Akkadian (Med Text )

(read left to right. Capital letters on stone. Small inner vowels inferred)
  1. Qu Ku  ŠuBu.  Gi  Ṣu Du.  A  Ṣu  ANnu.  Ba  Ṭu  BaNu   (Med 29.1)
  2. BiSu  BaRu.  AKu  Gi  EA  Mu    (Med 29.2)

In English

  1. Life-Threads are due to ritual-roast-offerings. Energy is activating the life-manifestations.  Those are being activated by considerations (focused emotions).  Nourish Thu's goodness.
  2. Give tribute to the seers.  Emotion-owls are energizing Yahu's (EA) fertility-fluids
Main Iron Age Letter Styles

Translation Resources Used

All texts translated to the scholar's standard.

Lexicon Used

Olmsted, D.D (January 1, 2022) Mediterranean Akkadian Lexicon 3rd Edition – 2022. DOI Permanent URL:   http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/nbb6-wg16. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/66851810/Mediterranean_Akkadian_Lexicon_3rd_Edition_2022

Letter Charts Used

Central Mediterranean Iron Age Letters