V 272. Pantikapaion.Epitaph of Banpharex (?), IVth century C.E.

Monument

Type

Panel. 

Material

Coarse-grained limestone. 

Dimensions (cm)

H.50.0, W.49.0, Th.19.0.

Additional description

On the front - carved cross filled with ochre. Chipped on the bottom and front. 

Place of Origin

Pantikapaion. 

Find place

Kerch. 

Find context

Mithridates Hill, north slope, First Esplanadnaya (former Esplanadnaya) St., house no. 3, yard of Ya. Shamanov, burial vault. 

Find circumstances

12 March 1904, chance find. 

Modern location

Kerch, Crimea. 

Institution and inventory

Historical and Archeological Museum of Kerch State Historical and Cultural Preserve, КЛ–522. 

Autopsy

September 2004. 

Epigraphic field

Position

In corners between the arms of the cross. 

Lettering

Lapidary; letters are filled with ochre. Alpha with slanting crossbar, {triangular delta, D-shaped}, rectangular epsilon and sigma, round phi. 

Letterheights (cm)

4.0–8.0.

Text

Category

Epitaph. 

Date

IVth century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Latyshev1905, 131–132, № 53. 

Edition

Ἐνθάδε
κατ(άκειτ)ε Βαν-
φαρηξ̣ (?).
Χρο͂͂ (?).

Diplomatic

ΕΝΘΑΔΕ
ΚΑΤΕΒΑΝ
ΦΑΡΗ.(?)
ΧΡΟ(?)

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Ἐνθάδε
      <lb n="2"/><expan><abbr>κατ</abbr><ex>άκειτ</ex><abbr>ε</abbr></expan> Βαν
      <lb n="3" break="no"/>φαρη<unclear>ξ</unclear> <certainty locus="value" match=".." cert="low"/>.
      <lb n="4"/><w part="I">Χρο͂͂ <certainty locus="value" match=".." cert="low"/></w>.
   </ab>
   </div>
 
Apparatus criticus

2-4: ΒΑΝ…Latyshev

Translation

Here lies Banpharex (?). I make use (?).

 

Commentary

The stone served as a support for the slab that covered the entrance to the catacomb. The inscription probably refers to the person buried in the vault.

1–2. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.d. For the same abbreviation ΚAΤΕ, see V 276.

4. Letters ΧΡΟ that are clear after the non-Greek name of the deceased are not attested as an abbreviation, and as it seems, could only represent a truncated version of the Early Byzantine formula (also known in epitaphs) εὐτυχῶς χρῶ (Feissel 1983, № 112; SEG 29.1616); other attested variants are ὑγιαίνων χρῶ (IGLS II 370) and αἰωνίᾳ ζωῇ χρῶ (Feissel 1983, № 114) - in the latter case, it is also spelled with omicron.

 

Images

 Photograph of face 1(from ??)

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