The rectangular marble base with a circular hollow in the upper surface (ΜΘ 1790), used to accommodate the pedestal of a statue.

The base was found during the demolition of the city’s east wall and it formed part of the public collection created by the Ottoman authorities in the Sultanié or Idadié, the imperial preparatory school for civil servants (today the University’s Old Philosophy School). The Idadié was considered as an annex of the Imperial Museum in Constantinople.

The inscription was initially published by Petros N. Papageorgiou in 1909, one of the most active intellectuals in Thessaloniki’s Greek community. Papageorgiou, during the period before the liberation from the Ottoman Empire, has published antiquarian studies on the region. His main object was to awaken the consciousness of the enslaved Greeks by placing ancient monuments at the heart of the nation’s spiritual struggle.

The votive inscription carved on the front face refers to the cult association of the god Hermanubis, a syncretic Egyptian deity combining the characteristics of Hermes and Anubis, who were both conductors of souls. According to the inscription, the presidents of the cult association of the god Hermanubis honour one of their members, Claudius Auximus.

      [Π]ο̣νπώνιον Ἕλενον κὲ Κάσσιον             

[π]ρ̣οστάτες θρησκευτῶν καὶ τῶν σηκοβατῶν

θ̣εοῦ Ἑρμανούβιδος Κλαύδιον Αὔξιμον

τὸν καὶ Πιέριν τὴ<ν> πρὸς τὸν 〚π̣α̣τ̣[έ]ρ̣α̣〛

πατέρα τειμὴν Κλαύδιον Γάϊον τειμῆς χάρι̣ν̣

ἀρχινακοροῦντος Μάρ(κου) ‘ Αὐρ(ηλίου) ‘ Ἰούσ∙του.

The object is displayed in the temporary exhibition “For a flame that burns on [1821-2021] Antiquities and Memory, Thessaloniki - Macedonia”.