V 287. Pantikapaion.Epitaph of Archelaos, IVth century C.E.
Monument
Type
Stele.
Material
Soft limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H.52.0, W.37.0, Th.8.0.
Additional description
On the front - elongated cross with flaring arms. Broken in four parts, broken off on the bottom.
Place of Origin
Pantikapaion.
Find place
Kerch.
Find context
Glinishche, Bratskaya St. (modern Frunze St.), house no. 17, property of the widow of A. Bondarenko.
Find circumstances
1903, chance find
Modern location
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
Unknown.
Autopsy
Non vidi.
Epigraphic field
Position
On either side of the cross.
Lettering
Lapidary. Alpha with broken crossbar, rectangular and lunate epsilon, diamond-shaped theta.
Letterheights (cm)
3.0–4.0.
Text
Category
Epitaph.
Date
IVth century C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. Latyshev1904, 87, № 101; 1.1. Diatroptov, Yemets1995, № 10.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab><cb n="A"/>
<lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/>Ἐν
<lb n="2"/>θά<lb n="3" break="no"/>δε
<lb n="4"/>κα<lb n="5" break="no"/>τά<lb n="6" break="no"/>κι<lb n="7" break="no"/>τε
<cb n="B"/>
<lb n="8"/>ὁ δο<lb n="9" break="no"/>ῦλος
<lb n="10"/>τοῦ<lb n="11" break="no"/><roleName>Θ<lb n="12" break="no"/>ε<lb n="13" break="no"/>ο<lb n="14" break="no"/>ῦ</roleName>
<lb n="15"/>Ἀ<supplied reason="lost">ρ</supplied><lb n="16" break="no"/>χέ<lb n="17" break="no"/>λα<lb n="18" break="no"/>ος.
</ab>
</div>Translation
Here lies a servant of God, Archelaos.
Commentary
The insciprion was gifted to the Kerch Museum by A.G. Hessel. Another monument - V 270 - was found nearby.
1–15. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.d.
16-19. The name Archelaos is attested in Bosporus four times (see CIRB 855), however all those cases date no later than the I century C.E. It is therefore possible that the name re-appeared as a result of Christian influence: three martyrs of this name are known (see Delehaye 1902, 1058); it is attested in Christian inscriptions at least 8 times (according to PHI7 Database).
Yemets and Diatroptov date the inscription to the VIth century, probably reflecting a misunderstanding of Latyshev's words "no later than the VIth century." The fact of its discovery next to V 270 (cf. also similar shape of the cross) rather suggests that our monument should be dated to the IVth century, although its workmanship is quite crude.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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