V 110. Ay-Dimitry.Epitaph (?) of Simeonis, XIII–XVth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Capital.
Material
Soft limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H.20.0, W.29.0, Th.15.5.
Additional description
Capital with apothesis and fillet, the latter decorated with dotted circles. One fragment, broken on all sides, survives.
Place of Origin
Ay-Dimitry.
Find place
Ay-Dimitry, Tract.
Find context
Revelioti farmstead, near the church and cemetery.
Find circumstances
Before 1890, survey of A.K. Romanyuk.
Modern location
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
Unknown.
Autopsy
Non vidi.
Epigraphic field
Position
On the apothesis.
Lettering
Lapidary. Cursive lambda. Ligature (omicron-upsilon), extending below the writing line, superscript sigma.
Letterheights (cm)
0.7–1.6.
Text
Category
Funerary (?) inscription.
Date
XIII–XVth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Architectural context.
Editions
L1. Romanyuk1890, 122, № 2, fig. 2; 1.1. Latyshev1896, 70–71, № 65.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost" cert="low">Ἐκοιμήθη</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">ὁ</supplied> δοῦλος
τοῦ <supplied reason="lost"><roleName><expan><abbr>θ</abbr><ex>εο</ex><abbr>ῦ</abbr></expan></roleName></supplied>
Σιμεόνης
<lb n="2"/><date><supplied reason="lost">μηνὶ</supplied>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/> <num value="19">θι</num></date>
</ab>
</div>Apparatus criticus
1: Ἐνθάδε κατάκειταιLatyshev; om.Romanyuk;
[θ(εο)ῦ]: om.Romanyuk;
ΣιμεονήουRomanyuk; ΣυμεώνLatyshev
2: om. alii
Translation
[Fell asleep, a] servant of God, Simeonis, on the 19th...
Commentary
Inscriptions on architectural members occur rather rarely in Mountainous Crimea, compared to Cherson. Of inscriptions made on capitals, we know only one on a "basketweave" capital from the vicinity of Mangup (V 173). Our capital originates apparently from a ruined church of St. Demetrios (2 hours by foot from the village of Marqur (modern Polyana). Our only record of it is the drawing made by Romanyuk, and relying on that we can say that the lettershapes point to the Middle or Late Byzantine period, however, a panel with a cross also published by him (fig. 3) definitively points to the Late Byzantine period.
Unfortunately, the fragmentary state of the text complicates its classification: it might be a dedication made by donator (which would fit well with its placement on an architectural member), but it could also, as is perhaps more likely, be an epitaph (the date at the end of the text is indicative).
1. Despite the missing word "of God" we can restore the typical phrase "servant of God" (the expression "your servant" seems less likely due to the following nominative case), and probably the date. The name Simeonis is used in the form Σιμεόνης (cf. SEG 32.1474) rather than Σ(υ)με(ών), as Latyshev had thought, because otherwise it would be difficult to explain the presence of the eta and sigma at the end, especially since what follows is vacat (εἰς [τά] can only occur after the name of the month).
2. Reconstruction either of the formula Κύριε, βοήθει or ἐκοιμήθη is unlikely, both because the name appears in line 1, and because the first formula would require a person's name to appear in dative. In addition, an abbreviating overline is clear above iota, indicating its numerical value.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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