V 10. Cherson.Building inscription of unknown, V–VIth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Panel.
Material
White fine-grained marble.
Dimensions (cm)
H.19.5, W.15.5, Th.1.8.
Additional description
Front and back are polished. Broken into two fragments; damaged on all sides, except on the right.
Place of Origin
Cherson.
Find place
Sevastopol (Chersonesos).
Find context
Near the gate, between curtain walls XV and XVI.
Find circumstances
1906, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich.
Modern location
Sevastopol, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 34873+35027.
Autopsy
May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007.
Epigraphic field
Position
The inscribed area is outlined with thinly cut lines, within which guiding lines are traced in the same manner.
Lettering
Lapidary. Letters are somewhat uneven, cut between the lines. Lunate epsilon; small omicron.
Letterheights (cm)
1.8–3.3.
Text
Category
Building inscription.
Date
V–VIth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. Latyshev1907, 38 № 19.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig><unclear cert="low">Α</unclear></orig>
<lb n="2"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>ΔΙ</orig>
<lb n="3"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>ΑΥ</orig>
<lb n="4"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>ΟΥ</orig> ἐθ <lb n="5" break="no"/><supplied reason="lost" cert="low">ήκαμεν</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">τόδε τὸ</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">τῖ</supplied>τλον
<lb n="6"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>Ω</orig>
</ab>
</div>Translation
...we e[rected ?] this inscription...
Commentary
Judging by the use of the word τῖτλον (cf. V 6), this might be a building inscription. Also by analogy with V 6, which was found nearby, we propose the restoration of lines 4-5. In addition, these two inscriptions are close in palaeography, e.g., in both we find a very rare (in the Northern Black Sea region) shape of alpha with straight crossbar.
The discovery of this inscription near the city wall allows us to connect it with the reconstruction of the walls of Cherson in the Early Byzantine period (cf. V 5, V 6). We could speculate that this one was placed over the gates, and V 6 on the tower. The possibility remains, however, that our inscription is actually a tombstone, since the term τῖτλον could have this meaning in Early Christian epigraphy (see commentary to V 6).
Images
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