V 317. Bosporus (?).Epitaph of Theodore, 884 C.E.

Monument

Type

Panel. 

Material

Gray (Proconessian ?) marble. 

Dimensions (cm)

H.28.0, W.25.0, Th.5.0.

Additional description

Top left corner and the right side are missing. 

Place of Origin

Bosporus (?). 

Find place

Unknown. 

Find context

Unknown. 

Find circumstances

Unknown. 

Modern location

St. Petersburg, Russia (?). 

Institution and inventory

State Hermitage (?), no inventory number. 

Autopsy

Non vidi. 

Epigraphic field

Position

On the front. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Alpha with a loop, almond-shaped epsilon, theta, omicron and sigma, extremely ornate kappa. Ligature: nu-tau, omicron-nu; abbreviation marks. 

Letterheights (cm)

1.35.

Text

Category

Epitaph. 

Date

884 C.E. 

Dating criteria

Explicit date. 

Editions

Unpublished. 

Edition

[Ἐνθά]δε κατάκητε
[ὁ δοῦ]λ̣ος τοῦ [[[---]]] θ(εο)ῦ Θε-
[όδω]ρος τὸ ἐπήκλην
[..]θυ. Ἅπαντος τοῦ κ(αὶ) ἦ(ν?) βίο-
5υ <ὀ>γδοήκ(ον)τα καὶ ζ´, οὗ
ἀνερ<εθ>ῇ ὑπὸ το͂ν πα-
τ(έ)ρον, ἄρ[ι]στ(α) ἔτη. Ἐτελη-
ώθη μη(νὶ) Ἀπρηλήῳ
ιγ´, ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ ἔ-
10τους ͵ςτϞβ´.

5: orig. ΗΓΔΟΗΚΤΑ; 6: orig. ΑΝΕΡΘΡΗΙ

Diplomatic

[....]ΔΕΚΑΤΑΚΗΤΕ
[....].ΟΣΤΟΥ[[[---]]]ΘΥΘΕ
[...]ΡΟΣΤΟΕΠΗΚΛΗΝ
[··]ΘΥΑΠΑΝΤΟΣΤΟΥΚΗΒΙΟ
5ΥΗΓΔΟΗΚΤΑΚΑΙΖΟΥ
ΑΝΕΡΘΡΗΥΠΟΤΟΝΠΑ
ΤΡΟΝΑΡ[.]ΣΤΕΤΗΕΤΕΛΗ
ΩΘΗΜΗΑΠΡΗΛΗΩ
ΙΓΑΠΟΑΔΑΜΕ
10ΤΟΥΣΣΤϞΒ

5: orig. ΗΓΔΟΗΚΤΑ; 6: orig. ΑΝΕΡΘΡΗΙ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost">Ἐνθά</supplied>δε κατάκητε
      <lb n="2"/><supplied reason="lost">ὁ</supplied>
      <supplied reason="lost">δοῦ</supplied><unclear>λ</unclear>ος
      τοῦ <del rend="erasure"><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/></del> 
      <roleName><expan><abbr>θ</abbr><ex>εο</ex><abbr>ῦ</abbr></expan></roleName> 
      Θε<lb n="3" break="no"/><supplied reason="lost">όδω</supplied>ρος τὸ
      ἐπήκλην
      <lb n="4"/><gap reason="lost" unit="character" quantity="2"/><w part="F">θυ</w>. Ἅπαντος τοῦ
      <expan><abbr>κ</abbr><ex>αὶ</ex></expan> 
      <expan><abbr>ἦ</abbr><ex cert="low">ν</ex></expan>
      βίο<lb n="5" break="no"/>υ 
      <date dur="P87Y"><expan><abbr><choice><corr>ὀ</corr><sic>Η</sic></choice>γδοήκ</abbr><ex>ον</ex><abbr>τα</abbr></expan>
      καὶ <num value="7">ζ</num></date>, οὗ
      <lb n="6"/>ἀνερ<choice><corr>εθ</corr><sic>ΘΡ</sic></choice>ῇ
      ὑπὸ το͂ν <expan><abbr>πα<lb n="7" break="no"/>τ</abbr><ex>έ</ex><abbr>ρον</abbr></expan>, 
      <expan><abbr>ἄρ<supplied reason="lost">ι</supplied>στ</abbr><ex>α</ex></expan> ἔτη. Ἐτελη<lb n="8" break="no"/>ώθη <date><expan><abbr>μη</abbr><ex>νὶ</ex></expan> <rs type="month" ref="apr">Ἀπρηλήῳ</rs>
      <lb n="9"/><num value="13">ιγ</num>, ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ
      ἔ<lb n="10" break="no"/>τους <num value="6392">ςτϞβ</num></date>.
   </ab>
   </div>
 
Apparatus criticus

4: Θύα παντὸς Latyshev; κ(αὶ) βίο[υ ? Latyshev
5-6: <ὸ>γδο[ήκον]τα ? ΚΑΤΖΟΥ ΑΝΕΡΘΡΗ Latyshev
6-7: τὸν πατρο͂να .... Latyshev

Translation

Here lies a servant of God, Theodore, nicknamed ...phy. Of his life, in total, there were eighty seven wonderful years, until he was taken by the fathers. He died on April 13th, in the 6392nd year since Adam.

 

Commentary

A drawing of the monument, together with a reading and some information about it, is preserved among the papers of V.V. Latyshev (The Archive of The Academy of Sciences of Russia, St. Petersburg Branch, f. 110, op. 1, d. 98, l. 354). Latyshev transcribed it at the Hermitage in 1883; I could not find any trace of it there. It is unclear why Latyshev did not publish the monument: perhaps in 1883, he was not yet aiming at publishing all inscriptions from the South of Russia; or perhaps the inscription was not from that region, finally, it might be because he did not succeed in reading all of it. My restoration of the middle of the text is hypothetical, based as it is on Latyshev's transcription rather the study of the monument de visu.

Judging by the arrangement of text, it is likely that the right bottom corner had already been lost by that time - it is possible that the tombstone was made from a marble spolium.

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

4. The nickname of Theodore may have been something similar to Mamsy, as in V 45.

4–7. The rhetorical flare resembles that of V 243 (see also below).

7–8. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.f.

9. On the dating "since Adam," see Introduction IV. 4. D; on the correspondence of year "since Creation" and "since the Birth of Christ" in the Middle Byzantine period, see Introduction IV. 4. D. The date suggests that the monument originated in the Northern Black Sea region (see commentary to V 315 and Vinogradov 2008). The palaeographic features are similar to those of V 243 (906 C.E.) and V 336 (912 C.E.?). Taking into consideration their origin in Bosporus (see commentary to V 336), we could hypothesize that if indeed this tombstone were from the Northern Black Sea region, then it could be associated with Bosporus. The fact that Latyshev was working with this monument in 1883 also supports the hypothesis of its Black Sea origin because it was at exactly this time that Latyshev had been entrusted with the study of Northern Black Sea epigraphy by the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society and made a trip to Crimea.

 

Images

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