V 279. Pantikapaion. Epitaph of Nikianos (?), IVth century C.E.

Monument

Type

Stele. 

Material

Limestone. 

Dimensions (cm)

H. 42.0, W. 28.0, Th. 10.0.

Additional description

The upper left corner is broken off. 

Place of Origin

Pantikapaion. 

Find place

Kerch. 

Find context

Unknown. 

Find circumstances

Before 1891. 

Modern location

Kerch, Crimea. 

Institution and inventory

Historical and Archeological Museum of Kerch State Historical and Cultural Preserve, КЛ–924. 

Autopsy

May 1999, September 2004, September 2008. 

Epigraphic field

Position

On the front. 

Lettering

Lapidary; bouletée letters, filled in with ochre. Alpha with a broken crossbar, nu with elevated diagonal, pi with extended horizontal. Ligature: nu-eta, abbreviation marks. 

Letterheights (cm)

4.0–6.5.

Text

Category

Epitaph. 

Date

IVth century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev 1892, 50–51, № 12; 1.1. Latyshev 1896, 89; 1.1.1. Diatroptov, Yemets 1995, 24. 

Edition

+ Ἐνθ(άδε)
κατά(κειται)
Νικια-
ν(ὸς?) νήπιος.

Diplomatic

+ΕΝΘ
ΚΑΤΑ
ΝΙΚΙΑ
ΝΝΗΠΙΟΣ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/> <expan><abbr>Ἐνθ</abbr><ex>άδε</ex></expan>
      <lb n="2"/><expan><abbr>κατά</abbr><ex>κειται</ex></expan>
      <lb n="3"/><expan><abbr>Νικια<lb n="4" break="no"/>ν</abbr><ex cert="low">ὸς</ex></expan> νήπιος.
   </ab>
   </div> 
 
Apparatus criticus

1: ἔνθα Latyshev, Diatroptov
3-4: Νικιανὴ Latyshev, Diatroptov

Translation

Here lies Nikianos (?), an infant.

 

Commentary

The inscription was acquired by A.A. Bobrinsky from E. Zaporozhsky in Kerch in 1891.

1–2. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.d. Latyshev wrote: "The last letter of the first line is undoubtedly A, not carved in its entirety due to the lack of space, while the sign S at the end of line 2 indicates an abbeviation." In reality, the letter at the end of line 1 is the same abbreviation sign as in line 2 (cf. V 273).

3–4. Also doubtful is Latyshev's reading of the name Νικιανή. A upward curving stroke between two nus in line 4 is quite different from the straight horizontal of the eta in the following ligature nu-eta. In addition, a female name Nikiane is not attested, while the masculine version, Nikianos, is known from IG XII.2 391 and IGR I.5 1354. For this reason, we should take the stroken after the first nu in line 4 as an abbreviation sign (also ending lines 1 and 2). Another, but less probable, variant is is the name Νικίας in accusative.

4. In Early Christian inscriptions, we often find indications of a child's age: βρέφος (ICUR 4040), παιδίον (IdC 57; Wessel 1989, № 994), ὀλιγοχρόνιος (Wessel 1989, № 646). The use of νήπιος is also attested: IGLS 2358; Canova 1954, № 169; IG XIV 461, 2290; ICUR 22792.

 

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.)