V 126. Kermenchik.Epitaph of Basileios, 1448 C.E.

Monument

Type

Casket-shaped tombstone. 

Material

Limestone. 

Additional description

Casket-shaped monument with saddleback lid, with ornament on the left side of the lid, a depression on the front, and a projecting ledge at the bottom. Letters are effaced. 

Place of Origin

Kermenchik. 

Find place

Vysokoe. 

Find context

East of Yukhary-Kermenchik, Sarcha-kilse Tract, Balaban-karagach-kilse, Church of Forty Martyrs, cemetery. 

Find circumstances

1915-1916, survey of M.I. Skubetov. 

Modern location

Unknown. 

Institution and inventory

Unknown. 

Autopsy

Non vidi. 

Epigraphic field

Position

In the depression and on the ledge. 

Lettering

Unknown. 

Text

Category

Epitaph. 

Date

1448 C.E. 

Dating criteria

Explicit date. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev1918, 41–42, № 10. 

Edition

Ἐκυμίθι ὁ μα-
καριότατος
δοῦλος τοῦ θ(εο)ῦ Βασίλις
Α μι(νὶ) <Αὐ>γου[στοῦ ..], [ἐπὶ?]
5ἔτους ͵ςϠνς´.

4: orig. ΓΟΥ

Diplomatic

ΕΚΥΜΙΘΙΟΜΑ
ΚΑΡΙΟΤΑΤΟΣ
ΔΟΥΛΟΣΤΟΥΘΥΒΑΣΙΛΙΣ
ΑΜΙΓΟΥ[....··...]
5ΕΤΟΥΣΣϠΝΣ

4: orig. ΓΟΥ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Ἐκυμίθι ὁ μα<lb n="2" break="no"/>καριότατος
      <lb n="3"/>δοῦλος τοῦ
      <roleName><expan><abbr>θ</abbr><ex>εο</ex><abbr>ῦ</abbr></expan></roleName>
      Βασίλις
      <lb n="4"/><orig>Α</orig> <date><expan><abbr>μι</abbr><ex>νὶ</ex></expan>
       <rs type="month" ref="aug"><supplied reason="omitted">Αὐ</supplied>γου<supplied reason="lost">στοῦ</supplied></rs>
      <num><gap reason="lost" quantity="2" unit="character"/>,</num>
       <supplied reason="lost" cert="low">ἐπὶ</supplied>
      <lb n="5"/>ἔτους <num value="6956">ςϠνς</num></date>.
   </ab>
   </div>
 
Apparatus criticus

4: ΑΜΙΛΟΓΟΥ ......Latyshev

Translation

Fell asleep: the most blessed servant of God, Basileios, ... of August, in the year 6956.

 

Commentary

Because the plates for Latyshev's article were never published, and the stone disappeared, our reconstruction of this inscription remains rather hypothetical.

1-3. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.e. The epithet "most blessed" with reference to secular individuals is attested in Byzantine epigraphy about 10 times (according to PHI7 Database) and in such cases designates a deceased or long-deceased person.

3. The name Basileios (here spelled Basilis) is also known in Crimea from V 44.

4-5. In most inscriptions from Kermenchik we find a dating formula by the day of the month - it would be logical to restore it here, while correcting similar-looking letters (alpha instead of lambda and epsilon instead of omicron, as in Latyshev's edition), however, an earlier inscription from Kermenchik - V 123 - displays the dating formula ἐπὶ ἔτους (for more detail, see Introduction III.1.C.b), for which reason we are also cautiously restoring it here.

 

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