V 12. Cherson.Building inscription of Isaac I Komnenos (?), 1059 C.E.

Monument

Type

Panel. 

Material

White fine-grained marble. 

Dimensions (cm)

H.19.5, W.22.0, Th.4.0.

Additional description

The back is unworked. Broken off on all sides. 

Place of Origin

Cherson. 

Find place

Sevastopol (Chersonesos). 

Find context

City walls, a sector between the breach and the Tower XVII ("Zeno's Tower"), on the external face. 

Find circumstances

1900, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich. 

Modern location

Sevastopol, Crimea. 

Institution and inventory

National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 35042. 

Autopsy

May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007. 

Epigraphic field

Position

On the front. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Elongated letters; alpha with slanting crossbar; beta with vertically spaced loops. 

Letterheights (cm)

6.0.

Text

Category

Building inscription. 

Date

1059 C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev1902, 68, № 13; 2. Vinogradov2011, 219–220, № 2. 

Edition

[+] Ἀνεν[εώθη? τὸ τεῖχος?]
ἐ̣πὴ βα̣[σιλέως? Ἰσακίου?].

Diplomatic

[.]ΑΝΕΝ[............]
.ΠΗΒ.[.............]

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost"><g ref="#stauros"/></supplied>
      Ἀνεν<supplied reason="lost" cert="low">εώθη</supplied>
      <supplied reason="lost" cert="low">τὸ τεῖχος</supplied>
      <lb n="2"/><unclear>ἐ</unclear>πὴ 
      β<unclear>α</unclear><supplied reason="lost" cert="low">σιλέως</supplied>
      <supplied reason="lost" cert="low">Ἰσακίου</supplied>.
      </ab>
   </div>
 
Apparatus criticus

[·· ? ··]ΑΝΕΝ[·· ? ··]ΠΗΒ[·· ? ··]Latyshev

Translation

Renovated: [a wall (?)], in the reign of Ba[sileus Isaac (?)]

 

Commentary

Found in the same area as the inscription of Isaac I (V 11), this fragment is close to the latter in script (see, for example, the shape of beta). This might be an inscription about the renovation of walls during the reign of the same emperor. There is a slight difference in formulae, however: "in the reign of Isaac.., the Great Basileus and Autokrator" versus "in the reign of Basileus Isaac." Judging by the size of vacat at the bottom, the second line must have been the last, and therefore the restoration "in the reign of Isaac + titles" is unlikely.

 

Images

 Photograph of face (from ??)

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