V 8. Cherson. Building inscription of unknown, IV–VIIth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Unknown.
Material
Unknown.
Additional description
Broken off on all sides (?).
Place of Origin
Cherson.
Find place
Sevastopol (Chersonesos).
Find context
Unknown.
Find circumstances
Before 1872.
Modern location
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
Unknown.
Autopsy
Non vidi.
Epigraphic field
Position
Unknown.
Lettering
Lapidary. Alpha with broken crossbar. Ligature mu-eta-nu (?); an abbreviation mark.
Text
Category
Building inscription.
Date
IV–VIIth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. IOSPE I 233; 1.2. IOSPE I2 654; 1.3. Vinogradov 2011, 218–219 № 1.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>μ</orig><gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/><orig>μ</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="2"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>μ</orig><gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/><orig>ψα</orig> σαπρὸς <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/><orig>ν</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="3"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>Α</orig> κατέπτοσεν, βα<supplied reason="lost">σιλικῷ</supplied>
<lb n="4"/><supplied reason="lost">προστάγματι <note>e.g.</note></supplied> <expan><abbr>ἐδιμηούργη</abbr><ex cert="low">σε</ex></expan> <orig>Α</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="5"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/> <supplied reason="lost">ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">το͂</supplied>ν ἔργον <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="6"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>ΤΟΥ</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>ωι</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
</ab>
</div> Apparatus criticus
2-3: om. IOSPE
4: ἐδιμηούργη(σ)α... IOSPE
5: [...]ν ἔργον IOSPE
6: τούτῳ ? ι[...] IOSPE
Translation
...rotten collapsed, in accordance with im[perial decree(?)], A[...] built, [overseeing] the works...
Commentary
In 1872, the inscription had been sent to Moscow and thence, at some point, returned to the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, however, its current location is unknown. It was published by Latyshev who was relying on a transcription made by N.P. Kondakov. Latyshev dated the inscription to the Early Byzantine period. In any case, alpha with broken crossbar could not be later than the Xth century (see commentary to V 66).
Indeed, even such a broad date could not support the interpretation of the third symbol in line 4 as zeta; most likely, it is an abbreviation mark in the shape of S. The shape of omega in line 6, tyical for classical antiquity but unknown in the Byzantine epigraphy of the Northern Black Sea region, looks somewhat suspect, yet we have to allow for the possibility of it either being a genuine occurrence, or Kondakov's mistake in transcription (cf. V 18). The shape of alpha allows for a date either in the IVth or after the Vth century, but serious phonetic mistakes in the text make a stronger case for the latter.
It appears that the inscription refers to the restoration of some collapsed building, conducted under the care of some supervisor (cf. V 265). In the absence of the original nothing more specific can be said about the inscription.
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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