V 179. Theodoro. Building inscription of Alexios, 1425 C.E.
Monument
Type
Door lintel.
Material
Limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H. 36.5, W. 80.0, Th. 25.0.
Additional description
On the front - relief shields, one with inset relief monogram, and another with inset relief coat of arms and ornamental design at the bottom right; below - an ornamental square rosette; the corner joint where the underside of the lintel meets the right door post is decorated with a sculpted ornament.
Place of Origin
Theodoro.
Find place
Mangup.
Find context
Palace, tower, soil heap on the south side, upper layer.
Find circumstances
1912, excavations of R.Ch. Loeper.
Modern location
Bakhchisaray, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
Bakhchisaray State Historical and Cultural Preserve, А-В–1355.
Autopsy
September 2005.
Epigraphic field
Position
Between shields.
Lettering
Lapidary style; elongated, ornate relief letters. Alpha and lambda with capping horizontal bar pointing left, beta with vertically spaced angular loops, theta with extended horizontal, mu with T-shaped and Y-shaped middle.
Letterheights (cm)
5.2.
Text
Category
Building inscription.
Date
1425 C.E.
Dating criteria
Explicit date.
Editions
L1. Loeper 1913, 78, № 6, fig. 6–7; 1.1. Latyshev 1918a, 10, № 7; 2. Bertye-Delagard 1918, 30–31; 3. Malitsky 1933, 33–35.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost" cert="low">Ἐκτίσθη ὁ
πύργος</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">οὗ</supplied>τος
μετὰ τοῦ παλατ<lb n="2" break="no"/><supplied reason="lost">ίου</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">καὶ
σὺν τῷ</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">εὐλ</supplied>ογημένῳ κάστρ<lb n="3" break="no"/><supplied reason="lost">ῳ,</supplied><supplied reason="lost">
ὃ νῦν ὁρᾶται,
ὑπὸ</supplied> ἡμερῶν κυροῦ
Ἀλ<lb n="4" break="no"/><supplied reason="lost">εξίου</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">αὐθέντου</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">πόλεω</supplied>ς
Θεοδώρους καὶ
πα<lb n="5" break="no"/><supplied reason="lost">ραθαλασσίας,</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">μηνὶ</supplied>
<rs type="month" ref="oct"><supplied reason="lost">Ὀκτ</supplied>οβρίῳ</rs>,
ἔτους <num value="6934">ςϠλδ</num>.
</ab>
</div> Apparatus criticus
1: οἶκος Loeper; πύργος (?) Latyshev et alii
2: [καὶ σὺν] ἐν Bertye-Delagard, Malitsky
Translation
Th[is tower was built] together with the palace [and the bles]sed fortress, [which can be seen today, in] the days of Lord Al[exios, Authentes of the city of] Theodoro and the co[astline, in Oct]ober 6934.
Commentary
The shape of the block suggests that the inscription was placed right over the entrance to the building, probably, of the palace that is mentioned in the text. It is possible that this was the entrance to the keep, in whose vicinity the stone had been found.
1. Loeper reconstructed the formula by analogy with V 180
2. In proposing a correction, Bertye-Delagard did not take into account the length of the missing line, and his correction also contradicts the formula - V 180. An identical mention of a fortress' construction in V 180, dated to 1427 C.E. (if only this inscription is indeed from Mangup), suggests that in 1425, the fortress had not yet been fully built. The epithet "blessed" is used in Byzantine epigraphy with reference to an episcopate (Feissel 1983, № 215) and a house (IGLS 21, 84); we may compare the epithet of Poika, "honourable" (V 176) and Theodoro, "God-protected" (V 14, V 170, V 175).
3. Specification "which (or: as) can be seen today" is a feature of Theodorite epigraphy (see V 180, V 241).
3-4. Alexios, the authentes of Theodoro, is known from various sources, including another inscription of 1427 where he is addressed with the same title (V 180; this one could also be a lintel block). The accent in the word "Theodoro" is reconstructed from V 241.
5. For historical analysis, see Myts 2009, 130–134.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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