V 247. Sougdaia.Building inscription (?) of Mansi, 1261-1262 C.E.

Monument

Type

Unknown. 

Material

Unknown. 

Dimensions (cm)

H.14.5, W.17.3, Th.unknown.

Additional description

On the front: image of an equilateral cross. The condition is unknown. 

Place of Origin

Sougdaia. 

Find place

Sudak. 

Find context

Over a fountain. 

Find circumstances

1870s, survey of D.M. Strukov. 

Modern location

Unknown. 

Institution and inventory

Unknown. 

Autopsy

Non vidi. 

Epigraphic field

Position

Below the cross. 

Lettering

Unknown. 

Letterheights (cm)

2.3 (?).

Text

Category

Building (?) inscription. 

Date

1261-1262 C.E. 

Dating criteria

Explicit date. 

Editions

Unpublished. 

Edition

Μανσι. Ἔτος ͵ς-
ψο´. ΨΝ.ΣΗ.

Diplomatic

ΜΑΝΣΙΕΤΟΣΣ
ΨΟΨΝ·ΣΗ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Μανσι. <date>Ἔτος <num value="6770">ς<lb n="2" break="no"/>ψο</num></date>.
      <orig>ΨΝ</orig><gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/><orig>ΣΗ</orig>.
   </ab>
   </div>

Translation

Mansi. Year 6770 ...

 

Commentary

Our reading is based on the single transcription made by D. M. Strukov (Manuscript Archive, Institute for History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences f. Р–I, № 619, l. 12), who saw the inscription before the dismantling of the fountain. The inscription did not survive, and Strukov's copy raises some doubts. A cause for concern is the fact that on the same piece of paper we find a transcription of another inscription from a Genoese Church of the Mother of God, which reads Gerardi. | κόμ(ητος) ςψκ´, however neither next to, nor below the first line, which is preserved on the window frame in the left side-chapel of the naos, are there any traces of continuation, and the date of the inscription (1211-1212) also contradicts the date of the church's construction (1383), as well as the time when the Genoese officials first appeared in Sougdaia.

Since a Genoese panel was used in the construction of the fountain, we should conclude that the latter was a rather late date (I thank A.V. Dzhanov for this information). Our inscription, therefore, must have also been a spolium used for the construction of the fountain.

A well-known Italian surname Mansi is not attested in the Greek world. In V 45 from Cherson, we find a similar surname Mamsi.

 

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