Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 4.5: British Museum: Dedications

In this instalment of our publication of the Attic inscriptions in the British Museum we present new editions of the Museum's collection of twenty-seven Athenian dedications: inscriptions typically recording offerings made to a deity, either in the hope of or as thanks for some act of divine favour or assistance, but including also statue bases and herms. We also edit one dedication which has conventionally been included in the Attic corpora but which, in our view, does not derive from Attica. The inscriptions date from the fourth century BC to the Roman imperial period; they include dedications made in private and public contexts, by men and women from all strata of Athenian society; and they offer examples of a wide range of physical forms, from simple plaques to elaborate sculpted reliefs. Taken as a whole, they give a very good insight into both the persistence and the diversity of this aspect of the Athenian epigraphic habit. We also discuss the history of this part of the Museum's collection: many of these inscriptions were collected by Lord Elgin, but some were acquired by other (mostly) aristocratic travellers and collectors, and some arrived in London via more circuitous routes.