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. 

Edition

[---]Α̣
[---]ΔΙ
[---]ΑΥ
[---]ΟΥ ἐθ-
5[ήκαμεν? τόδε τὸ τῖ]τλον
[---]Ω

Diplomatic

[---].
[---]ΔΙ
[---]ΑΥ
[---]ΟΥΕΘ
5[..............]ΤΛΟΝ
[---]Ω

EpiDoc (XML)

<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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You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to theEpiDoc schema.)