V 187. Theodoro.Inscription over the icon of the Virgin (?), XVth century C.E.

Monument

Type

Small arch. 

Material

Soft limestone. 

Additional description

On the front - relief borders. Broken on all sides, 2 fragments survive. 

Place of Origin

Theodoro. 

Find place

Mangup. 

Find context

Basilica or palace (?). 

Find circumstances

1913-1914, excavations of R.Ch. Loeper. 

Modern location

Unknown. 

Institution and inventory

Unknown. 

Autopsy

Non vidi. 

Epigraphic field

Position

Between relief borders. 

Position

Between relief borders. 

Lettering

Lapidary; ornate relief letters, with serifs. 

Text

Category

Image-related inscription. 

Date

XVth century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev1918a, 20–21, № 5. 

Edition

[---]ος Μ(ήτη)ρ Θ[(εο)ῦ ---]Η[---]

Diplomatic

[---]ΟΣΜΡΘ[.---]Η[---]

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><w part="F">ος</w>
      <expan><abbr>Μ</abbr><ex>ήτη</ex><abbr>ρ</abbr></expan> 
       <expan><abbr>Θ</abbr><supplied reason="lost"><ex>εο</ex><abbr>ῦ</abbr></supplied></expan>
      <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig>Η</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
   </ab>
   </div>
 
Apparatus criticus

Θ(εό)ςLatyshev

Translation

... Mother of God...

 

Commentary

Using a photograph, Latyshev read on the left the word Θ(εό)ς, and yet the photo shows neither a theta nor an abbreviating overline. More likely, there was some epithet or simply just the name Θεοτόκος.

Judging by the shape, the monument served as a frame of some object with a rounded top, most likely it was an icon of the Virgin from some church. The script is representative of Theodorite epigraphic habit of the XVth century. In 1913, Loeper was conducting excavations at the basilica and at the palace, so our inscription must have been found in one of these two places.

 

Images

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