V 107. St. George Monastery, cape Feolent.Building inscription (?) of an unknown, XIII–XVth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Panel.
Material
Limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H.13.0, W.15.0, Th.5.0.
Additional description
The front is smoothed over. It shows traces of a fielded panel, round in shape, painted light brown. Inside the fielded panel is a relief cross with flaring arms; the arm of the cross is decorated with patterns. Broken off on all sides. At present, the ends of both lines of text are lost (two letters in each line).
Place of Origin
St. George Monastery, cape Feolent.
Find place
Feolent, Cape.
Find context
Chapel of 1896.
Find circumstances
1896, survey of M.I. Skubetov.
Modern location
Sevastopol, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 34952.
Autopsy
May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007.
Epigraphic field 1
Position
Within the frame.
Lettering
Lapidary. Letters are ornate, vertical hastae have a slight s-shaped curve. Alpha with slanting crossbar.
Letterheights (cm)
2.0.
Epigraphic field 2
Position
In the lefthand corner of the frame.
Lettering
See field 1.
Letterheights (cm)
1.5.
Text
Category
Building inscription.
Date
XIII–XVth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. Latyshev1902, 68, № 14 (№ 1); 2. Vinogradov2011, 230–232, № 8.1, 7.2.
<div type="textpart" subtype="fragment" n="1">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><w part="F">ς</w> καὶ <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="2"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><w part="F">ι</w> ὁ ναὸς <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
</ab>
</div><div type="textpart" subtype="fragment" n="2">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost">ἐν</supplied> <date><expan><abbr>ἰν<lb n="2" break="no"/><unclear>δ</unclear></abbr><ex>ικτιῶνι</ex></expan> <num><gap reason="lost" quantity="2" unit="character"/></num></date>
</ab>
</div>Translation
... and... church...
2[in] the ... indiction.
Commentary
It would appear to be an inscription about the construction of a church, quite likely the very "chapel of the 1896", dated, on the basis of archaeological finds, to the Late Byzantine period (Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1900, 33, № 3). In the enclosure III, near the church, Skubetov excavated a similar monument in 1896 - a cross with flaring arms, within a circle (Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1898, 198).
Latyshev did not notice letters inscribed on the left narrow border. They probably contained the date of the building inscription.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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