V 56. Cherson. Image-related inscription, late IV–Vth centuries C.E.

Monument

Type

Screen. 

Material

White marble. 

Dimensions (cm)

H. 34.5, W. 31.5, Th. 3.5.

Additional description

The panel is worked on all sides. On the front is a rectangular frame along the perimeter; inside the frame there is an image, in sgraffito technique, of a young (beardless) Christ, his head surrounded by a halo, offering his hand to the drowning Peter; the sail of a boat is on the right. On the back is a frame in relief and the remains of a cross in relief. Broken off on the right and bottom. 

Place of Origin

Cherson. 

Find place

Sevastopol (Chersonesos). 

Find context

Necropolis by the Quarantine Bay, Burial vault 784, earth infill in front of the entrance. 

Find circumstances

1896, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich. 

Modern location

Saint Petersburg, Russia. 

Institution and inventory

State Hermitage, Х.237. 

Autopsy

September 2004. 

Epigraphic field 1

Position

On the top frame (which has been horizontally cut leaving only the bottoms of letters). 

Lettering

Lapidary. Lunate epsilon and sigma; kappa with extended vertical. 

Letterheights (cm)

1.5.

Text 1

Category

Image-related inscription. 

Date

Late IV–Vth centuries C.E. 

Dating criteria

Type of representation, script. 

Editions

L1. Vinogradov 2010, 111–114, № a1. 

Edition

[Ὁ] κ̣(ύριο)ς̣ Ἰ̣ε̣(σοῦ)ς̣ δ̣[ιδοὺς χεῖρα Πέτρῳ καταποντιζομένῳ].

Diplomatic

[.]......[..............................]

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="textpart" subtype="inscription" n="1">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost">Ὁ</supplied>
      <roleName><expan><abbr><unclear>κ</unclear></abbr><ex>ύριο</ex><abbr><unclear>ς</unclear></abbr></expan></roleName>
      <expan><abbr><unclear>Ἰε</unclear></abbr><ex>σοῦ</ex><abbr><unclear>ς</unclear></abbr></expan>
      <unclear>δ</unclear><supplied reason="lost">ιδοὺς</supplied>
      <supplied reason="lost">χεῖρα
      Πέτρῳ
      καταποντιζομένῳ</supplied>.
      </ab>
   </div> 

Translation

Jesus Christ of[fering his hand to the drowning Peter].

 

Commentary

On the circumstances of discovery, see Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1896b, 77–78, 194, drawing 327; Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1898, 187.

The panel was found in the fill of the necropolis, apparently, among rubbish. Its prepared front surface indicates that the panel was meant to be viewed. The remains of a cross, which must have served as the vertical centre on the back side, allow us to restore the overall width of the panel at ca. 0.75m (this calculation was undertaken for Latyshev by N.I. Suslov)

While on the Parisian and Chersonessian panels (V 57 and V 58), the image-related inscription began on the top section of the frame, on this panel, the remains of letters would seem to suggest a different type of inscription, since the image-related text begins lower. We could consider the possibility of a ktitor's inscription, but two details in the inscription 2 militate against that: firstly, for some reason, there is a cross after the name of Christ; secondly, the name of Christ is abbreviated differently than on V 57 and V 58: Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς instead of Ἰε(σοῦ)ς. At the same time, the traces of letters on the frame (on the left) seem to read precisely κ(ύριο)ς Ἰε(σοῦ)ς. Thus it would appear that the original image-related inscription, identical in style and orthography to V 57 and V 58, was actually written on the frame. Yet the similarity of style in inscriptions 1 and 2 on this stele suggests that Inscription 2 was carved shortly after Inscription 1. It is, of course, possible that some damage to Inscription 1 could have necessitated Inscription 2, but a more plausible scenario explaining the doubling of inscriptions on this stele might have been something like this: the panel was cut too big for its intended placement, and the top of it was carefully sliced off to reduce the size, thus damaging the inscription and necessitating its recutting below the framing line. The narrow width of the frame on the top compared to the lefthand side of the panel supports this hypothesis.

On the image, see Michon 1900; Latyshev 1906b, 55–56; Izmailova 1970. Pl. LXXX. Fig. 23; Bank 1977, 51. The subject of the image derives from Matthew 14:31 and is known in Christian art. Stylistically (incised lines and sgraffito technique in the treatment of hair), the image is close to the Egyptian relief in Berlin, IV-Vth centuries (Török 2005, 272, fig. 110).

See also commentary to V 58.

 

Epigraphic field 2

Position

Inside the frame, just below the top framing line. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Lunate epsilon and sigma; kappa with extended vertical. 

Letterheights (cm)

1.5.

Text 2

Category

Image-related inscription. 

Date

Late IV–Vth centuries C.E. 

Dating criteria

Type of representation, script. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev 1899, 26–27, № 40; 1.1. Latyshev 1891, 337–369; 1.2. Latyshev (=Latyshev 1909a, 303-310); 2. Vinogradov 2005b, 91-93; 2.1. Vinogradov 2010, 111–114, № a1; 2.2. Yashaeva, Denisova, et al. 2011, 425, № 7, илл. 7. 

Edition

+ Ὁ κ(ύριο)ς Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς + διδοὺς χε[ῖρα Πέτρῳ καταποντιζομένῳ].

Diplomatic

+ΟΚΣΙΣ+ΔΙΔΟΥΣΧΕ[.......................]

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="textpart" subtype="inscription" n="2">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/> Ὁ
      <roleName><expan><abbr>κ</abbr><ex>ύριο</ex><abbr>ς</abbr></expan></roleName>
      <expan><abbr>Ἰ</abbr><ex>ησοῦ</ex><abbr>ς</abbr></expan>
      <g ref="#stauros"/> διδοὺς χε<supplied reason="lost">ῖρα</supplied>
      <supplied reason="lost">Πέτρῳ
      καταποντιζομένῳ</supplied>.
      </ab>
   </div> 
 
Apparatus criticus

χ[ορηγίαν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πέτρῳ] Latyshev 1899

Translation

Jesus Christ offering [his hand to the drowning Peter].

 

Commentary

See commentary to V 56.1.

The last letter before the break is certainly a lunate epsilon: its middle stroke is clearly visible. In the editio princeps, Latyshev had failed to observe this, but in the republication he fixed his original reading. Latyshev's restoration "to Saint Peter" is not as attractive, since Peter, unlike Christ, is represented without a halo.

 

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.)