V 60. Cherson.Epitaph of Euphrosyne, V–VIIth centuries C.E.
Monument
Type
Stele.
Material
Limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H.52.0, W.17.0, Th.9.5.
Additional description
On the planed front, at the top: incised cross with flaring arms, in a circle. In the middle of the front: images of two trees along the sides of the panel; at the bottom of the front: semicircular niche. Broken off at the top, cut on the left and right; chipped all over.
Place of Origin
Cherson.
Find place
Sevastopol (Chersonesos).
Find context
Wall, curtain walls XVI-XVII, the outer side, rubble fill.
Find circumstances
1898, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich.
Modern location
Sevastopol, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 4142.
Autopsy
May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007.
Epigraphic field
Position
In the centre of the middle section of the panel.
Lettering
Lapidary. Letters are shallow, angular. Alpha with broken crossbar, delta with projecting right hasta and downward serifs at either end of the horizontal; diamond-shaped epsilon, omicron and sigma (with inward-pointed serifs); У-shaped upsilon with serifs at the tops of verticals; W-shaped omega.
Letterheights (cm)
1.5–2.0.
Text
Category
Epitaph.
Date
V–VIIth centuries C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. Latyshev1899, 49–50, № 46.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/> Ὑπὲρ
<lb n="2"/>ἀνα<lb n="3" break="no"/>παύσε<lb n="4" break="no"/>ως τῆς
<lb n="5"/>δούλης
<lb n="6"/>τοῦ <roleName><expan><abbr>θ</abbr><ex>εο</ex><abbr>ῦ</abbr></expan></roleName>
<lb n="7"/>Εὐφρο<lb n="8" break="no"/>σύνης,
<lb n="9"/><date>μην<unclear>ὶ</unclear> <num value="4"><unclear cert="low">δ</unclear></num>
<num value="31">λα</num></date>.
</ab>
</div>Apparatus criticus
9: ΔΟΜΗΝ resp. ἀ{ο}μὴνLatyshev
Translation
For the resting of the servant of God, Euphrosyne, in the 4th (?) month, 31st day.
Commentary
The inscription was included in the exhibition 'Byzantine Chersonesos' (Chichurov 1991, 27, № 11).
The tombstone of Euphrosyne is the only one in Cherson that is decorated with images. The trees, according to Latyshev, might be a cypress and a fir. The niche at the bottom might have housed a lamp, as in the Late Byzantine examples from the Mountainous Crimea (see, e.g., V 169).
4-6. On the formula, see IV.3.F.a.
7-8. The name Εὐφροσύνη is symbolic, it means "joy" or "merriment", and is common among early Christians. In the Christian epigraphy it is attested 10 times, according to PHI7 Database (see also Wessel 1989, no. 1093, 1642–1645; Sironen 1997, no. 194; Lefebvre 1907, no. 250).
9. The day of the month (cf. V 89 and V 151) is not very legible, but it seems that it should be restored in the following way: firstly, it can only be a month with 31 days, that is, October, December, January, March, May, July, or August. Secondly, the traces of the bottom end of the letter strokes designating the date look most like delta. If in the Early Byzantine Cherson the year began in September (see commentary to V 6), then the fourth month would be December. The letter carver may have chosen to abbreviate the month in order to distinguish the numeral from the first letter of the month, which otherwise happen to be the same. In addition, the difference of lettershapes in line 9 (they are not elongated as in the previous lines) suggests that the date (which also does not fit the formula) was added later, after the death of Euphrosyne, in the uneven space, which had not been prepared for the inscription, and for that reason was given only in abbreviated form.
The analysis of script is made difficult by the fact that the mason was forced to turn all rounded forms into angular for the ease of carving. In general, the script is similar to V 62, and the shape of delta to V 6.
Images
© 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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