V 50. Cherson. Invocation on reused ancient relief, IX–Xth centuries C.E.

Monument

Type

Stele. 

Material

Marble. 

Dimensions (cm)

H. 43.0, W. 41.5, Th. unknown.

Additional description

Trapezoidal stele with Totenmahl relief, in secondary use: a cross is cut between the original figures on the relief, and three more crosses of the same shape (T-shaped arms' ends) are cut on the frame below the relief. 

Place of Origin

Cherson. 

Find place

Sevastopol (Chersonesos). 

Find context

Church No 23 ("Uvarov basilica"), near the southern wall. 

Find circumstances

1853, excavations of A.S. Uvarov. 

Modern location

Saint Petersburg, Russia. 

Institution and inventory

State Hermitage, Х–1039. 

Autopsy

October 2001. 

Epigraphic field 1

Position

Between the figures on the relief. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Letters are of varying heights. Alpha with broken crossbar; beta with bottom underline; kappa with extended vertical; У-shaped upsilon. 

Letterheights (cm)

1.2–6.

Text 1

Category

Demonstrative. 

Date

IX–Xth centuries C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography, orthography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev 1896, 23–26, № 12; 1.1. Kieseritzky, Watzinger 1909, 134, № 734. 

Edition

Φο͂ς,
ζοή.

Diplomatic

ΦΟΣ
ΖΟΗ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="textpart" subtype="inscription" n="1">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Φο͂ς,
      <lb n="2"/>ζοή.
      </ab>
   </div> 

Translation

Light, life.

 

Commentary

On the formula, seeIV.3.C.b.

 

Images

Epigraphic field 2

Position

On the frame below the relief. 

Lettering

See field 1. 

Text 2

Category

Invocative inscription. 

Date

IX–Xth centuries C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography, orthography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev 1896, 23–26, № 12; 1.1. Kieseritzky, Watzinger 1909, 134, № 734. 

Edition

Κύριε, βοήθη
τὸν ὖκον τοῦτον, ἀμήν.

Diplomatic

ΚΥΡΙΕΒΟΗΘΗ
ΤΟΝΥΚΟΝΤΟΥΤΟΝΑΜΗΝ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="textpart" subtype="inscription" n="2">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><roleName>Κύριε</roleName>,
      βοήθη
      <lb n="2"/>τὸν ὖκον τοῦτον,
      ἀμήν.
      </ab>
   </div> 

Translation

O Lord, help this house.

 

Commentary

This ancient relief and its inscription were often discussed in publications of the XIXth century (Uvarov 1855, 168-170; Tolstoy, Kondakov 1889, 115; Kulakovsky1896, 49; Latyshev 1897, 150).

1. Theta at the end of the line is fully visible, and not just by half, as was the opinion of Latyshev.

1-2. On the formula, see IV.3.E.a. Byzantine parallels for this particular variant (IGLS 1450, 2635; see also Reynolds 1960, 286, no. 5 lf; Cyrene, 365 (?) C.E.) come from domestic structures rather than churches, and so it is possible that in our case as well the relief was first reused in a house wall and inscribed at that time, and only later built into the wall of Church 23 (although it was found not in the wall, but next to it). On the practice of building ancient stelae with reliefs into the walls of churches, see Saradi 1997.

Latyshev's date - 1st half of the Xth century, which depends on the faulty dating of the Stephani Basilica, is actually not as wrong as it is sometimes made out to be (Sorochan 2005, 784, n. 404). The characteristic beta with bottom underline, as well as the interchange of diphthong οι and upsilon, impossible in Byzantium prior to the VIIIth century, makes any earlier date for our inscription also improbable. At the same time, alpha with broken crossbar, which is still known in Cherson in the early Xth century (see V 66, 915 C.E.), disappears after the middle of the XIth (cf. V 11). Finally, beta with bottom underline is typical specifically for IX-Xth centuries. Thus, we should date this inscription to the IX-Xth centuries.

 

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