V 232. Ay-Basil.Epitaph of Nicholas, 1344 C.E.
Monument
Type
Unknown.
Material
Unknown.
Additional description
Broken into 3 fragments.
Place of Origin
Ay-Basil.
Find place
Ay-Vasil.
Find context
Church.
Find circumstances
1871, excavations of D.M. Strukov.
Modern location
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
Unknown.
Autopsy
Non vidi.
Epigraphic field
Position
On the front.
Lettering
Lapidary; letters are slightly ornate. Ligatures, abbreviation marks.
Text
Category
Epitaph.
Date
1344 C.E.
Dating criteria
Explicit date.
Editions
Unpublished.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><expan><abbr>Ἐκημή</abbr><ex>θη</ex></expan> ὁ δοῦλο<supplied reason="lost">ς</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">τ</supplied><unclear>ο</unclear>ῦ
<roleName><expan><abbr>θ</abbr><ex>εο</ex><abbr>ῦ</abbr></expan></roleName>
<lb n="2"/><expan><abbr>Νηκόλα</abbr><ex>ος</ex></expan> <date>μηνὶ <rs type="month" ref="apr"><supplied reason="lost">ἀ</supplied><unclear>π</unclear>ρηλίου</rs>
<lb n="3"/><num value="29">κθ</num>, ἔτους <num value="6852">ςωνβ</num></date>.
</ab>
</div>Translation
Fell asleep: a servant of God, Nicholas, on the 19th of April, in the year 6852.
Commentary
Transcriptions made by Strukov are preserved at the Russian State Historical Archive, St. Petersburg (f. 695, op. 1, d. 17, l. 10; I would like to thank A.V. Dzhanov for providing me with a drawing) and at the Manuscript Archive, Institute for History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences (f. Р–I, № 619, l. 8). The latter is published here. The monument had been transferred to the Museum of the Academy of Arts, but I could not find it there. We know that Strukov read only the last three digits in the year date, and two of them incorrectly.
1. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.e.
2. On the name Nicholas, see commentary to V 48.
There is no archaeological date for this church; if we are to judge by its liturgical design, then by analogy with cave churches of Crimea, it would date no earlier than XIIIth century (see Vinogradov, Gaydukov, Zheltov 2005, 75–76). Thus, our inscription could well be the tombstone of the church's founder, and in that case, the church would have been built sometime in the 1320-30s. The date of the Ay-Basil Treasure also fits this date - XIII-XVth centuries (Zalesskaya 1993).
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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