V 277. Pantikapaion. Epitaph of The–, IV-Vth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Cross.
Material
Coarse-grained limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H. 34.0, W. 32.0, Th. 8.0.
Additional description
Cross with flaring arms. Broken in 2 parts, broken off on the right and bottom.
Place of Origin
Pantikapaion.
Find place
Kerch.
Find context
Mithridates Hill, top, near the monument to Stempkovsky.
Find circumstances
7 July 1913, landscape development.
Modern location
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
Unknown.
Autopsy
Non vidi.
Epigraphic field
Position
On the front.
Lettering
Lapidary. Alpha with broken crossbar, rectangular epsilon, oval and diamond-shaped theta.
Letterheights (cm)
2.0–4.7.
Text
Category
Epitaph.
Date
IV-Vth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. Shkorpil 1914, 82, № 12; 1.1. Diatroptov, Yemets 1995, 19.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/>Ἐνθάδε
<lb n="2"/>κατά<lb n="3" break="no"/><surplus>κα</surplus><lb n="4" break="no"/><surplus>τ<unclear>α</unclear></surplus><lb n="5" break="no"/>κιται Θε<gap reason="illegible" quantity="3" unit="character"/>.
</ab>
</div> Apparatus criticus
5: Θε[όδωρος ?] Shkorpil
Translation
Here lies The[...]
Commentary
The inscription was published without a photograph. Published here is a photo of an estampage preserved at the Photo Archive of the Institute for History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences (III–12720).
1–5. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.d.
5. Judging by the absence of letters on the bottom arm of the cross, the inscription must have had 5 lines, so that the name of the deceased should not exceed 6-7 letters. Of the possible names, Theodoros, Theodora, and Theodosios are attested in the Christian inscriptions of Bosporus: V 274, V 275, V 276, V 291, V 292.
On tombstones in the shape of the cross, see commentary to V 61.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to the EpiDoc schema.)