V 299. Pantikapaion. Epitaph of Platon, IVth century C.E.

Monument

Type

Panel. 

Material

Soft limestone. 

Dimensions (cm)

H. 37.0, W. 33.0, Th. 13.5.

Additional description

On the front - relief Greek cross. The bottom left corner is missing. 

Place of Origin

Pantikapaion. 

Find place

Kerch (?). 

Find context

Unknown. 

Find circumstances

Before August 1894. 

Modern location

Kerch, Crimea. 

Institution and inventory

Historical and Archeological Museum of Kerch State Historical and Cultural Preserve, КЛ–3172. 

Autopsy

May 1999, September 2004, September 2008. 

Epigraphic field

Position

In upper corners between the arms of the cross and on the crossbar. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Alpha with broken crossbar and shortened hastae, pi with extended horizontal, rounded omega. 

Letterheights (cm)

4.0–5.0.

Text

Category

Epitaph. 

Date

IVth century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev 1895, 62, № 68; 1.1. Latyshev 1896, 92, № 92; 1.1.1. Diatroptov, Yemets 1995, №26. 

Edition

Πλά-
των.

Diplomatic

ΠΛΑ
ΤΩΝ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Πλά<lb n="2" break="no"/>των.
   </ab>
   </div> 

Translation

Platon.

 

Commentary

The inscription was bought for the Kerch Museum in August 1894 from the antiques dealer E. Zaporozhsky in Kerch. We can therefore be reasonably certain that the monument is of Bosporan origin.

1-2. The name Platon is attested in Christian epigraphy thrice, and all three times in Ankyra (RECAM II 237; Anderson 1899, 98; Mitchell 1977, 99). Additionally, we know a martyr of this name, likewise from Ankyra (see Delehaye 1902, 233). We can therefore hypothesize that the Platon of our inscription also came from Ankyra.

Diatropov and Yemets do not provide an explanation for their date of the IVth century (see Introduction IV.2.A.b).

 

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.)