V 32. Cherson. Dedication of Constantine, VI–VIIth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Panel.
Material
Marble.
Additional description
Along the bottom edge - wide raised band with shallow cyma moulding. Broken into pieces, two fragments survive: both are broken off on all sides, except the bottom (and right - for Fragment 2).
Place of Origin
Cherson.
Modern location
Sevastopol, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
, no inventory number.
Autopsy
May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007.
Fragment 1
Dimensions (cm)
H. 12.0, W. 9.0, Th. 4.1.
Find place
Sevastopol (Chersonesos).
Find context
Unknown.
Find circumstances
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 34977.
Fragment 2
Dimensions (cm)
H. 13.5, W. 20.0, Th. 4.5.
Find place
Sevastopol (Chersonesos).
Find context
South slope.
Find circumstances
1895, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich.
Institution and inventory
National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 35119.
Epigraphic field 1
Lettering
Lapidary. Letters with light serifs. Alpha with broken crossbar; rectangular epsilon; kappa with elongated vertical; pi with extended horizontal.
Letterheights (cm)
1.8–3.3.
Epigraphic field 2
Position
Below the groove.
Lettering
Lapidary. Letters with light serifs. Alpha with broken crossbar; rectangular epsilon; kappa with elongated vertical; pi with extended horizontal.
Letterheights (cm)
1.8–3.3.
Text
Category
Dedication.
Date
VI–VIIth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
Unpublished.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost"><roleName>Κύριε</roleName>,</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">ἀ</supplied>νάπ<supplied reason="lost">αυσον</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">τὸν</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">ἱερ</supplied>έα
<expan><abbr>Κω<unclear>ν</unclear></abbr><ex>σταντῖνον</ex></expan>.
</ab>
</div> Translation
[Lord, grant] rest to the [pri]est Constantine.
Commentary
Fragment 2 was found outside archaeological context (Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1897a, 91–92, drawing 234). Latyshev (1899a, 51, № 50) who offered no readings for either fragment, supposed that Fragment 2 might belong to V 44; however, my autopsy has shown this to be incorrect.
Judging by the formula "Lord, grant rest," the inscription should be classified as funerary (see IV.3.F.b). At the same time, the shape of the stone does not at all look like a tombstone; rather, the panel was probably part of a templon, which would make our formula dedicatory. The church (its identity is impossible to determine) or, specifically, its templon must have been built in commemoration of a certain priest Constantine. Since Fragment 2 clearly preserves the righthand side of the panel, we must conclude that either the name Constantine was given in abbreviation or that it continued on the adjacent panel. The latter hypothesis fits in with the difference in the thickness of the two surviving fragments: it is possible that the two also belonged to different panels. It is a little strange that the inscription should be written along the bottom edge of the panel, but its beginning might have been carved along the top edge.
The name Constantine (Constantine) occurs in Cherson only in V 65.
Rectangular epsilon, alpha with broken crossbar, and the shapes of pi and omega are the features also found in V 7.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to the EpiDoc schema.)