V 61. Cherson.Epitaph of Stephanos, Stephanos and Christophoros, IV–Vth centuries C.E.

Monument

Type

Cross. 

Material

Sandstone. 

Dimensions (cm)

H.42.0, W.28.5, Th.15.0.

Additional description

Stone cross; elongated bottom arm and widening ends. Right corners of the top and bottom arms are broken off. The surface is chipped all over. 

Place of Origin

Cherson. 

Find place

Sevastopol (Chersonesos). 

Find context

Western necropolis, bank of a gully, unknown burial vault, near the entrance. 

Find circumstances

1890, excavations of K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich. 

Modern location

Sevastopol, Crimea. 

Institution and inventory

National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, 4138. 

Autopsy

May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007. 

Epigraphic field

Position

Entire surface, except for the top arm. 

Lettering

Lapidary. Alpha with slanting crossbar, beta with enlarged bottom loop; elongated rho, tau, upsilon, phi; semi-diamond-shaped rho; У-shaped upsilon; diamond-shaped phi.  

Letterheights (cm)

2.5–3.5.

Text

Category

Epitaph. 

Date

IV–Vth centuries C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography, orthography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev1892, 36, № 29; 1.1. Latyshev1896, 31–32, № 24; 2. Vinogradov2010, 139–141, № k. 

Edition

Ὑπὲ̣ρ μν̣ή̣μης καὶ
ἀ̣να̣παύσεος Στε-
φάνου καὶ Στεφ-
άνου καὶ Χρ-
5ηστοφό-
ρου πρησβυ-
τέρον. Ἀμὴν.

Diplomatic

ΥΠ.ΡΜ..ΜΗΣΚΑΙ
.Ν.ΠΑΥΣΕΟΣΣΤΕ
ΦΑΝΟΥΚΑΙΣΤΕΦ
ΑΝΟΥΚΑΙΧΡ
5ΗΣΤΟΦΟ
ΡΟΥΠΡΗΣΒΥ
ΤΕΡΟΝΑΜΗΝ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Ὑπ<unclear>ὲ</unclear>ρ μ<unclear>νή</unclear>μης καὶ
      <lb n="2"/><unclear>ἀ</unclear>ν<unclear>α</unclear>παύσεος Στε<lb n="3" break="no"/>φάνου καὶ Στεφ<lb n="4" break="no"/>άνου καὶ Χρ<lb n="5" break="no"/>ηστοφό<lb n="6" break="no"/>ρου πρησβυ<lb n="7" break="no"/>τέρον. Ἀμὴν.
   </ab>
   </div>

Translation

For remembrance and rest of Stephanos, and Stephanos, and Christopher, the presbyters. Amen.

 

Commentary

On the discovery, see Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich 1890, 35, fig. 19. The monument was on display at the exhibition "Byzantine Cherson" (Chichurov1991, 28, № 13).

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

2-6. The name Stephanos is attested among Early Byzantine inscriptions of Crimea - V 281, Christophoros - is known from Cherson (V 79) and probably also in V 249 from Sougdaia. In Christian epigraphy it is attested altogether twelve times, according to PHI7 Database.

6-7. The phonetics reflected in the inscription belong to the transitional period: eta is used to convey both the sound "e" (in πρησβυτέρον) and the sound "i" (in Χρηστοφόρου). Latyshev dates this phenomenon to the VI-VIIth centuries, but in Bosporos it is already evident in the inscriptions of the IV-Vth centuries (cf. V 282,V 283, V 306).

In terms of palaeography, the inscription is close to V 5, if we compare the shapes of alpha, as well as beta with enlarged bottom loop. The date in the IV-Vth centuries suggests that at this time, presbyters were still buried outside city walls (Sorochan 2005, 1054). This inscription is the only Christian epitaph at the Western Necropolis.

What is not entirely clear is how we are to understand the burial of three presbyters together (the inscription is carved by one hand): whether it indicates their contemporaneous death (e.g., due to violence or epidemic, cf. V 64), or should be seen as priestly grave, over which the funerary monument was erected not immediately after the first burial, but soem time later. Tombstones in the shape of a cross are conventionally considered a characteristic of Constantinople and its Bithynian vicinity (see Feissel 2006, № 181, 185, 396, 410).

 

Images

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