A New Inscribed Assos Sarcophagus from Alexandreia Troas and The Collegium of Shipwrights

This paper presents a new inscribed Assos-type sarcophagus found recently in a village close to the ancient city of Alexandreia Troas. A characteristic feature of the general decoration of Assos-type sarcophagi is the attention-grabbing shape of the large central panel positioned on each of the long sides of the sarcophagus. It is proposed that these large central panels may have been schematic representations of rectangular or round funerary altars. Accordingly, the depiction of the funerary altar on the sarcophagus is considered to be a new hybrid style of the practice in the necropolis of Assos of erecting a funerary altar along with the sarcophagus.  With this sarcophagus inscription dating to the third century AD, the presence of the professional association of shipwrights, which is known to have existed in a number of important harbour cities in the western part of the Roman Empire, is attested for the first time in the ancient city of Alexandreia Troas and Asia Minor in general. The epithet ἱερώτατος labelling the collegium suggests that the association may have gained a privileged position in the ancient city. The anonymous owner of the sarcophagus must have been associated with the collegium of shipwrights at Alexandreia Troas and, presumably, he was a shipwright.