lacra-

This lexeme is found in the inscription of the inscribed pillar of Xanthos, dated contextually to shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE and stylistically to around 400 BCE (Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:19f.).

[D.S.]

nom./acc. pl.	lacra	TL 44c.33-34 (Xanthos)
		TL 44c.37 (Xanthos)
		TL 44d.34 (Xanthos)
dat. sg.?	lacri	TL 44c.43 (Xanthos)

The dative singular in -i is unexpected, since the noun lacra, used in the same context as lacri, appears to be a collective noun.

[D.S.]

Lycian B lacra refers to an object dedicated (zazati) to a god. For the parallel meaning of trbbdi see under lemma. The meaning ‘wall’, suggested by König 1936a:115 (followed by Schürr 2007a:38, Schürr 2016d:71), is contextually inadequate. The equation with Lyd. laqriša (‘rock monument’ as in Eichner 1993a:145, Gehrisch 2018a:82), now translated as ‘woodwork’, and Hitt. laḫḫura- ‘sacrificial table’ (Melchert apud Hajnal 1995a:26, DLL:119, Shevoroshkin 2014a:246) is phonologically unlikely, since the letter c represents a voiceless velar [k], not a labio-velar (see Laroche 1979c:57). The very old etymological connection with Greek λάβρυς ‘axe’, repeated in Neumann 2007a:184 and Gehrisch 2018a:84, is phonologically outdated. However, Melchert (DLL:119) says rightly that lacra should designate some kind of ritual object.

In TL 44c.43 (Xanthos), it appears to be modified by xñtabaime/i- ‘containing the (sacrificial) preparation (?)’:

              seb(e)=enẽ : lacri : xñtabaimi : slãma zrbblã (TL 44c.43-44)

              ‘Make the zrbblã into an offering for/in/on the lacri containing the preparation(?)!’

The next passage tells us that the lacra can be placed back and set up (within a sacrificial context):

              …mutala : apñ=tadi : tetbeti : lacra (TL 44d.33-34)

              ‘…he places back (and) sets up the powerful(?) lacra.’

Beyond that, no specific meaning can currently be attributed.

[D.S.]

No convincing etymology possible. For a list of outdated hypotheses, see Neumann 2007a:184 and the counter-arguments under Meaning.

[D.S.]