V 23. Cherson. Dedication of T–, VI–VIIth centuries C.E.

Monument

Type

Cornice. 

Material

White fine-grained marble. 

Dimensions (cm)

H. 15.5, W. 28.0, Th. 25.5.

Additional description

Cornice with mouldings. The top and front surfaces are polished. Broken off on the left and right. 

Place of Origin

Cherson. 

Find place

Sevastopol (Chersonesos). 

Find context

Church No 17, floor. 

Find circumstances

1908, excavations of R. Ch. Loeper 

Modern location

Sevastopol, Crimea. 

Institution and inventory

National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 35033. 

Autopsy

May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007. 

Epigraphic field

Position

On the front of the topmost band of moulding. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Letters with serifs. Rectangular epsilon and sigma. 

Letterheights (cm)

3.7–4.0.

Text

Category

Dedication. 

Date

VI–VIIth centuries C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Loeper 1913, 67, № 16; 1.1. Latyshev 1912, 136. 

Edition

[+ Ὑπὲ]ρ̣ εὐχῆς Τ[---]

Diplomatic

[....].ΕΥΧΗΣΤ[---]

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost"><g ref="#stauros"/></supplied> <supplied reason="lost">Ὑπὲ</supplied><unclear>ρ</unclear> 
       εὐχῆς <seg part="I"><orig>Τ</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/></seg>
      </ab>
   </div> 
 
Apparatus criticus

... ἐξ Loeper; ὑπὲρ] Latyshev; τ[οῦ... Loeper

Translation

For the prayer of T...

 

Commentary

Latyshev's reconstruction of the beginning of the text is no doubt correct (for the formula, see Introduction IV.3.B.b), while there are no parallels for the restoration proposed by Loeper. In addition, the final rho is quite clear on the stone; the same can be said about the ending: the introductory words were typically followed by the name of a dedicant (or an anonymous formula "whose name God knows"), but not by an article.

The inscription is typical of Chersonian dedications of the V-VIIth centuries, and it originates, as Loeper suggested, from church 17 where it had been found. This hall church was dated by Grinevich to the VII-VIIIth centuries (see Sorochan 2005, 875). Rectangular epsilon and sigma place this inscription closer to V 7, excepting the Y-shaped ypslion. The closest palaeographic parallel is V 28.

 

Images

(cc) © 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to the EpiDoc schema.)