V 266. Pantikapaion. Invocation of Pappos, IV–Vth century C.E.
Monument
Type
Wall.
Material
Clay.
Additional description
It was completely destroyed, except for remnants of the first word.
Place of Origin
Pantikapaion.
Find place
Kerch.
Find context
Mithridates Hill, house of Ya. Zavarzin, yard, catacomb.
Find circumstances
1896, chance find.
Modern location
In situ (?).
Institution and inventory
In situ (?), no inventory number.
Autopsy
Non vidi.
Epigraphic field
Position
On the front.
Lettering
Lapidary. Delta with projecting right hasta, pi with extended horizontal.
Letterheights (cm)
3.3.
Text
Category
Invocative (funerary (?)?) inscription.
Date
IV–Vth century C.E.
Dating criteria
, onomastics.
Editions
L1. Latyshev 1896, 130–131, № 85а.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><roleName>Κύριε</roleName>,
ἐλέ<lb n="2" break="no"/>ησον τ<lb n="3" break="no"/>ὸν δοῦλ<lb n="4" break="no"/>όν σου
<lb n="5"/>Πάππον.
</ab>
</div> Translation
Lord, have mercy for your servant Pappos.
Commentary
The inscription was found and destroyed by some boys, one of whom had copied it, mixing up some similarly looking letters (ΚΥΡΙΕΕΑΕ|ΗΟΟΝΤ|ΟΝΔΟΥΑ|ΟΝΧΟΥ|ΠΑΠΠΟΜ). The description of the script is based on Latyshev's publication who had seen the transcription and dated lettershapes to the V-VIth centuries.
1–4. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.E.b. The formula is similar to "Holy God... have mercy for your servant Sauagas" in V 305 - taking into consideration the find spot, our best guess is that it is a funerary inscription.
The name Pappos in attested in Christian inscriptions only in LBW V 1484, but it is very common in Bosporus and appears 39 times in CIRB. This facts supports a date in the IV-Vth century C.E.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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