V 267. Pantikapaion. Epitaph of Agorastos, IVth century C.E.

Monument

Type

Stele. 

Material

Cоmpact fine-grained limestone. 

Dimensions (cm)

H. 56.0, W. 33.0, Th. 7.0-15.0.

Additional description

A hole on the side is probably for a dowel; on the front - two Latin crosses with flaring arms, at the beginning and end of the inscription; in secondary use. Top left corner is missing, the surface is chipped.  

Place of Origin

Pantikapaion. 

Find place

Kerch. 

Find context

Glinishche, garden of K. Woerle. 

Find circumstances

4 May 1897, chance find. 

Modern location

Kerch, Crimea. 

Institution and inventory

Historical and Archeological Museum of Kerch State Historical and Cultural Preserve, КЛ–1143. 

Autopsy

May 1999, September 2004, September 2008. 

Epigraphic field

Position

In the upper part. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Alpha with slanting crossbar, delta and lambda with projecting right hasta, rectangular epsilon and sigma, kappa with extended vertical, small diamond-shaped omicron. 

Letterheights (cm)

2.0–4.0.

Text

Category

Epitaph. 

Date

IVth century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography, archaeological context. 

Editions

L1. Shkorpil 1898a, 209–210, № 19; 1.1. Diatroptov, Yemets 1995, № 5. 

Edition

+ Ἐνθάδε
κατάκιται
Ἀγόραστος
Λούου +

Diplomatic

+ΕΝΘΑΔΕ
ΚΑΤΑΚΙΤΑΙ
ΑΓΟΡΑΣΤΟΣ
ΛΟΥΟΥ+

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/> Ἐνθάδε
      <lb n="2"/>κατάκιται
      <lb n="3"/>Ἀγόραστος
      <lb n="4"/>Λούου <g ref="#stauros"/>
   </ab>
   </div> 

Translation

Here lies Agorastos, son of Louos.

 

Commentary

The inscription was found together with V 280 and V 281, as well as the Jewish tombstone of Simon (Shkorpil 1898b, 210, № 20).

1–2. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.d.

3. Among Christian names, only a female name Agorasta is attested in Feissel 1983, № 13 (V–VIth century). The male name Agorastos (and also Agorasta) are known in antiquity only from Termessos in Pisidia (34 times in ТАМ III); outside of Termessos, Agorasta is attested once - in Lycia (TAM II 990). We can hypothesize that the Bosporan Agorastos, as well as Lycian and Macedonian Agorastas all originated in Termessos.

4. The name Louos is not otherwise attested, although its etymology is quite obvious. Patronymics are not common in early Christian inscriptions of Bosporus, only four examples are known (see Introduction III.1.E.a).

Shkorpil's opinion was that the script was similar to V 276, V 280, V 281. Indeed, in terms of palaeography (and also, in part, archaeologically) they form a certain unity. Taking into consideration the presence of a Jewish tombstone in the same cemetery, we may suggest that they all date to the IVth century (see Introduction III.1.E.a for more detail).

 

Images

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