OB03115 Colombo Museum Inscribed Pillar of Kassapa IV

Metadata
Object ID	OB03115
Title	Colombo Museum Inscribed Pillar of Kassapa IV
Subtitle
Inscription(s)	IN03140
Child Object
Parent Object
Related Objects
Responsibility
Author	Senarath Paranavitana
Metadata recorded by
Authority for metadata
Metadata improved by
Authoriy for improved
Description
Material	Stone / unspecified
Object Type	Pillar
Dimensions:
Width	20.32 cm
Height	213.36 cm
Depth	20.32 cm
Weight
Details	A stone pillar engraved on all four sides with an inscription. The figures of a scythe, a monk’s fan, a crow and a dog are engraved beneath the inscription on the fourth side of the pillar. In the past, the pillar was broken into two fragments; the upper part was then broken in two again. However, the pieces have since been reassembled to make the pillar whole again.
History
Created:
Date
Place
Other ancient history
Found:
Date
Place	Unknown
Other modern history
Latest:
Date
Place	Colombo Museum
Authority	Paranavitana, S. (1928-33). ‘No. 28. Colombo Museum Pillar-Inscription of Kassapa IV,’ Epigraphia Zeylanica 3, pp. 270–277.
Details	The history of the pillar before it arrived at the Colombo National Museum is not clear. The location where it was found is not recorded. The pillar was broken into two pieces before it arrived at the museum. As a consequence, it was initially treated as two objects and the inscriptions on the fragments were recorded as distinct texts when eye-copies were produced for the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon in 1907 and 1924. At some point, the upper part of the pillar was further broken into two pieces. However, the pillar was later recognised as a single object and all of the fragments were joined back together. The reassembly of the pillar occurred before the inscription was published by Senarath Paranavitana in the third volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica (1928–33, pp. 270–77).
Notes