V 259. Sougdaia.Inscription of Athanasios (?), X–XVth century C.E.
Monument
Type
Indeterminate.
Material
Limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H.6.0, W.5.0, Th.5.0.
Additional description
Broken on all sides, including the back.
Place of Origin
Sougdaia.
Find place
Sudak.
Find context
Curtain wall XIV, Burial vault 1.
Find circumstances
1986, excavations of I.A. Baranov,
Modern location
Sudak, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
Museum "Sudak Fortress", СК–86/№ 246.
Autopsy
September 2003.
Epigraphic field
Position
On the front.
Lettering
Lapidary, letters lean slightly. Alpha with a loop, wide mu.
Letterheights (cm)
1.0.
Text
Category
Unknown.
Date
X–XVth century C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
1. Vinogradov, Dzhanov2004, 420–412, № 12.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><seg part="I">Ἀθανα<supplied reason="lost">σι</supplied></seg><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
<lb n="2"/><orig>ΣΑΝΔΕΜ</orig><gap reason="illegible" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
</ab>
</div>Translation
Athanas...
Commentary
Remaining letters are not sufficient for reconstructing the content of the inscription. We can only suggest that the initial letters of line 1 most likely belong to a name and not to some such word as ἀθάνατος "immortal."
The monument was found during the clearing of the fill of Vault tomb 1, dated to the VIII-IXth centuries. It is possible that the stone fragment with graffito fell in during the construction works in the XIVth century when the barrel vault of the tomb was broken.
Images
© 2015 Andrey
Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to theEpiDoc schema.)