V 272. Pantikapaion.Epitaph of Banpharex (?), IVth century C.E.
Monument
Type
Panel.
Material
Coarse-grained limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H.50.0, W.49.0, Th.19.0.
Additional description
On the front - carved cross filled with ochre. Chipped on the bottom and front.
Place of Origin
Pantikapaion.
Find place
Kerch.
Find context
Mithridates Hill, north slope, First Esplanadnaya (former Esplanadnaya) St., house no. 3, yard of Ya. Shamanov, burial vault.
Find circumstances
12 March 1904, chance find.
Modern location
Kerch, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
Historical and Archeological Museum of Kerch State Historical and Cultural Preserve, КЛ–522.
Autopsy
September 2004.
Epigraphic field
Position
In corners between the arms of the cross.
Lettering
Lapidary; letters are filled with ochre. Alpha with slanting crossbar, {triangular delta, D-shaped}, rectangular epsilon and sigma, round phi.
Letterheights (cm)
4.0–8.0.
Text
Category
Epitaph.
Date
IVth century C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. Latyshev1905, 131–132, № 53.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/>Ἐνθάδε
<lb n="2"/><expan><abbr>κατ</abbr><ex>άκειτ</ex><abbr>ε</abbr></expan> Βαν
<lb n="3" break="no"/>φαρη<unclear>ξ</unclear> <certainty locus="value" match=".." cert="low"/>.
<lb n="4"/><w part="I">Χρο͂͂ <certainty locus="value" match=".." cert="low"/></w>.
</ab>
</div>
Apparatus criticus
2-4: ΒΑΝ…Latyshev
Translation
Here lies Banpharex (?). I make use (?).
Commentary
The stone served as a support for the slab that covered the entrance to the catacomb. The inscription probably refers to the person buried in the vault.
1–2. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.d. For the same abbreviation ΚAΤΕ, see V 276.
4. Letters ΧΡΟ that are clear after the non-Greek name of the deceased are not attested as an abbreviation, and as it seems, could only represent a truncated version of the Early Byzantine formula (also known in epitaphs) εὐτυχῶς χρῶ (Feissel 1983, № 112; SEG 29.1616); other attested variants are ὑγιαίνων χρῶ (IGLS II 370) and αἰωνίᾳ ζωῇ χρῶ (Feissel 1983, № 114) - in the latter case, it is also spelled with omicron.
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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