V 29. Cherson. Dedication of unknown, VI–VIIth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Transenna.
Material
Marble (?).
Additional description
Round transenna with a pattern of circles along the edge. Broken into pieces; one fragment survives.
Place of Origin
Cherson.
Find place
Sevastopol (Chersonesos).
Find context
Church 23 (?).
Find circumstances
1853 (?), excavations of A.S. Uvarov (?).
Modern location
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
Unknown.
Autopsy
Non vidi.
Epigraphic field
Position
Along the edge.
Lettering
Unknown.
Text
Category
Dedication.
Date
VI–VIIth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Archaeological context.
Editions
L1. Latyshev 1896, 30, № 20.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/>Ὑπὲρ <expan><abbr>ἀφέσ</abbr><ex>ε</ex><abbr>ως</abbr></expan>
ἁ<supplied reason="lost">μαρτιῶν</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">τοῦ</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">δεῖνος</supplied> <gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/>
</ab>
</div> Apparatus criticus
ἁμαρτιῶν κτλ. Latyshev
Translation
For the absolution of s[ins of ...].
Commentary
On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.B.f.
The inscription on the transenna is a dedication made by the ktitor of an Early Byzantine church. According to Latyshev, the inscription was transported to Moscow in 1872, and therefore had been found prior to that date. As we attempt to localize this church, we should keep in mind that by 1872 only a few churches had been excavated in Chersonesos, and no marble transennae were recorded among the finds (Biernacki 2009, 67–69). It is therefore quite probable that we are dealing with a segment of the same transenna with a cornice and an image of a saint, whose fragments had been discovered in 1900 and 1901 by Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich at the altar of Church 23 (Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1900, 34, no. 6); Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1902, 76, 79). That church had previously been excavated by Uvarov ("Uvarov Basilica") in 1853, and the transenna dates to the end of the VIth - VIIth century.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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