V 19. Cherson. Dedication of Theodore, VIth century C.E.

Monument

Type

Panel. 

Material

White coarse-grained marble. 

Dimensions (cm)

H. 33.5, W. 17.5, Th. 4.5.

Additional description

Inset panel with relief border (decorated with creeping vine and an embossed cross with flaring arms, in a circle). The inset bears a relief cross with flaring arms. Broken off on the left and bottom. 

Place of Origin

Cherson. 

Find place

Sevastopol (Chersonesos). 

Find context

Northern coast, Church 22 ("Northern basilica") 

Find circumstances

1893, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich. 

Modern location

Moscow, Russia. 

Institution and inventory

State Historical Museum, no inventory number. 

Autopsy

October 2004, November 2008. 

Epigraphic field

Position

Carved in corners between the arms of the cross. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Light serifs. Lunate epsilon; Y-shaped and V-shaped upsilon, leaning to the right. 

Letterheights (cm)

2.2–2.7.

Text

Category

Dedication. 

Date

VIth century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Archaeological context, palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev 1895, 22–24, № 29; 1.1. Latyshev 1896, 28–29, № 16; 2. Vinogradov 2006, 290, № 1. 

Edition

+ [Ὑπ]ὲρ εὐχῆ<ς>
[Θεο]δώρου
[---]Σ̣ resp. Ε̣[. 4.]
[---].

1: orig. ΕΥΧΗΕ

Diplomatic

+[..]ΕΡΕΥΧΗΕ
[...]ΔΩΡΟΥ
[---].[····]
[---]

1: orig. ΕΥΧΗΕ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/> <supplied reason="lost">Ὑπ</supplied>ὲρ εὐχῆ<choice><corr>ς</corr><sic>ε</sic></choice>
      <lb n="2"/><supplied reason="lost">Θεο</supplied>δώρου
      <lb n="3"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig><app type="alternative"><lem><unclear>Σ</unclear></lem><rdg><unclear>Ε</unclear></rdg></app></orig><gap reason="lost" quantity="4" unit="character"/>
      <lb n="4"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="line"/>.
    
    
   </ab>
   </div> 

Translation

For the prayer of [Theo]doros...

 

Commentary

On the formula, see IV.2.B.b.

2. The name Theodore (Theodoros) occurs four more times in the Early Byzantine period in Cherson (V 9, V 64, V 72, V 72).

The inscription on a panel of an altar screen (original width ca. 0.52m) is certainly the dedication of a ktitor (who either funded the construction of the church or, less likely, of the altar screen) from an Early Byzantine church - Northern Basilica. Another example of a ktitor's inscription on the altar screen is V 21 from Cherson.

Here we have another possible case of a letter-carver's confusion of sigma and epsilon (see V 18). There is nothing very special about the script, although the rounded lettershapes most likely point to the date of no later than mid-Vith century. Judging by numismatic finds (Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1895, 3, 54), Church 22 dates to the time of Justinian I (see Biernacki, Klenina, Ryzhov 2004, 67).

 

Images

(cc) © 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to the EpiDoc schema.)