V 194. Theodoro. Inscription on a bread stamp, X–XIIth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Small panel.
Material
Limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
Th. 3.5, Diam. 11.2.
Additional description
Small round panel; on the front - carved cross in the centre. Fully preserved.
Place of Origin
Theodoro.
Find place
Mangup.
Find context
Basilica, northern gallery, layer 2.
Find circumstances
1976, excavations of N.I. Barmina.
Modern location
Sevastopol, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 11/37269.
Autopsy
May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007.
Epigraphic field
Position
Along the edge and around the cross.
Lettering
Lapidary; minuscule letters of varying height. Ligatures: sigma-tau, mu-eta. Abbreviations.
Letterheights (cm)
0.8–1.7.
Text
Category
Liturgical inscription.
Date
X–XIIth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
Unpublished.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/>Οὗ ἀρᾶς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ γέμη <expan><abbr>κ</abbr><ex>αὶ</ex></expan> πικρίας κὲ δόλου.
</ab>
</div> Translation
Whose mouth is full of cursing, and bitterness, and fraud.
Commentary
The text is verse 28 from Psalm 9, and is not otherwise attested epigraphically.
One hypothesis for explaining the function of the monument is that it was an apotropaic text meant for insertion into a wall or some other structure. Alternatively, as was kindly pointed out to me by the Reverend M. Zheltov, such a formula used to be inscribed on a special bread used for identifying a thief (see Almazov 1904). In that case, we could interpret the stone as a bread stamp. The origin of this rite would predate XIIth century.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to the EpiDoc schema.)