V 53. Cherson.Invocation of –sakios, IX–XIth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Colonnette.
Material
Proconnesian marble.
Dimensions (cm)
H.16.0.
Additional description
Broken off on the top and bottom.
Place of Origin
Cherson.
Find place
Sevastopol (Chersonesos).
Find context
Southern slope.
Find circumstances
1895, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich.
Modern location
Sevastopol, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 34853.
Autopsy
May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007.
Epigraphic field
Position
Along the column's shaft.
Lettering
Lapidary. Alpha with slanting crossbar; delta and lambda with projecting left hastae; elongated sigma; V-shaped upsilon. Ligature: omicron-upsilon.
Letterheights (cm)
1.0–2.0.
Text
Category
Invocative inscription.
Date
IX–XIth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography, superscript nu.
Editions
L1. Latyshev1899, 50, № 48.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><roleName><supplied reason="lost">Κύριε</supplied></roleName>,
<supplied reason="lost">σῶσο</supplied>ν <note>e.g.</note> τῷ δοῦλόν
σ<supplied reason="lost">ο</supplied>υ
<lb n="2"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/><seg part="F"><unclear>σα</unclear>κίου</seg>.
</ab>
</div>Apparatus criticus
1: βοήθησο]νLatyshev
2: ...]κίουLatyshev
Translation
[Lord, save] your servant [...]sakios.
Commentary
On the archaeological context of the find see Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1897a, 91, drawing 233.
The shape of the monument has no analogies. The direction of writing suggests that the inscription was carved after the colonnette ceased to serve its original purpose and was probably reused in masonry. At the same time, it is difficult to be sure about the exact function of the monument.
1. The verb in this formula is restored hypothetically. On the mixing of noun cases see IV.3.E.a; we cannot exclude the possibility that the name in the genitive in the second line was a patronymic.
2. The name of the dedicator may have been either Isakios or Arsakios.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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