V 19. Cherson.Dedication of Theodore, VIth century C.E.
Monument
Type
Panel.
Material
White coarse-grained marble.
Dimensions (cm)
H.33.5, W.17.5, Th.4.5.
Additional description
Inset panel with relief border (decorated with creeping vine and an embossed cross with flaring arms, in a circle). The inset bears a relief cross with flaring arms. Broken off on the left and bottom.
Place of Origin
Cherson.
Find place
Sevastopol (Chersonesos).
Find context
Northern coast, Church 22 ("Northern basilica")
Find circumstances
1893, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich.
Modern location
Moscow, Russia.
Institution and inventory
State Historical Museum, no inventory number.
Autopsy
October 2004, November 2008.
Epigraphic field
Position
Carved in corners between the arms of the cross.
Lettering
Lapidary. Light serifs. Lunate epsilon; Y-shaped and V-shaped upsilon, leaning to the right.
Letterheights (cm)
2.2–2.7.
Text
Category
Dedication.
Date
VIth century C.E.
Dating criteria
Archaeological context, palaeography.
Editions
L1. Latyshev1895, 22–24, № 29; 1.1. Latyshev1896, 28–29, № 16; 2. Vinogradov2006, 290, № 1.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/> <supplied reason="lost">Ὑπ</supplied>ὲρ εὐχῆ<choice><corr>ς</corr><sic>ε</sic></choice>
<lb n="2"/><supplied reason="lost">Θεο</supplied>δώρου
<lb n="3"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><orig><app type="alternative"><lem><unclear>Σ</unclear></lem><rdg><unclear>Ε</unclear></rdg></app></orig><gap reason="lost" quantity="4" unit="character"/>
<lb n="4"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="line"/>.
</ab>
</div>Translation
For the prayer of [Theo]doros...
Commentary
On the formula, see IV.2.B.b.
2. The name Theodore (Theodoros) occurs four more times in the Early Byzantine period in Cherson (V 9, V 64, V 72, V 72).
The inscription on a panel of an altar screen (original width ca. 0.52m) is certainly the dedication of a ktitor (who either funded the construction of the church or, less likely, of the altar screen) from an Early Byzantine church - Northern Basilica. Another example of a ktitor's inscription on the altar screen is V 21 from Cherson.
Here we have another possible case of a letter-carver's confusion of sigma and epsilon (see V 18). There is nothing very special about the script, although the rounded lettershapes most likely point to the date of no later than mid-Vith century. Judging by numismatic finds (Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1895, 3, 54), Church 22 dates to the time of Justinian I (see Biernacki, Klenina, Ryzhov 2004, 67).
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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