V 187. Theodoro. Inscription over the icon of the Virgin (?), XVth century C.E.
Monument
Type
Small arch.
Material
Soft limestone.
Additional description
On the front - relief borders. Broken on all sides, 2 fragments survive.
Place of Origin
Theodoro.
Find place
Mangup.
Find context
Basilica or palace (?).
Find circumstances
1913-1914, excavations of R.Ch. Loeper.
Modern location
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
Unknown.
Autopsy
Non vidi.
Epigraphic field
Position
Between relief borders.
Position
Between relief borders.
Lettering
Lapidary; ornate relief letters, with serifs.
Text
Category
Image-related inscription.
Date
XVth century C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. Latyshev 1918a, 20–21, № 5.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><w part="F">ος</w>
<expan><abbr>Μ</abbr><ex>ήτη</ex><abbr>ρ</abbr></expan>
<expan><abbr>Θ</abbr><supplied reason="lost"><ex>εο</ex><abbr>ῦ</abbr></supplied></expan>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>Η</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
</ab>
</div> Apparatus criticus
Θ(εό)ς Latyshev
Translation
... Mother of God...
Commentary
Using a photograph, Latyshev read on the left the word Θ(εό)ς, and yet the photo shows neither a theta nor an abbreviating overline. More likely, there was some epithet or simply just the name Θεοτόκος.
Judging by the shape, the monument served as a frame of some object with a rounded top, most likely it was an icon of the Virgin from some church. The script is representative of Theodorite epigraphic habit of the XVth century. In 1913, Loeper was conducting excavations at the basilica and at the palace, so our inscription must have been found in one of these two places.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to the EpiDoc schema.)