V 279. Pantikapaion.Epitaph of Nikianos (?), IVth century C.E.
Monument
Type
Stele.
Material
Limestone.
Dimensions (cm)
H.42.0, W.28.0, Th.10.0.
Additional description
The upper left corner is broken off.
Place of Origin
Pantikapaion.
Find place
Kerch.
Find context
Unknown.
Find circumstances
Before 1891.
Modern location
Kerch, Crimea.
Institution and inventory
Historical and Archeological Museum of Kerch State Historical and Cultural Preserve, КЛ–924.
Autopsy
May 1999, September 2004, September 2008.
Epigraphic field
Position
On the front.
Lettering
Lapidary; bouletée letters, filled in with ochre. Alpha with a broken crossbar, nu with elevated diagonal, pi with extended horizontal. Ligature: nu-eta, abbreviation marks.
Letterheights (cm)
4.0–6.5.
Text
Category
Epitaph.
Date
IVth century C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography.
Editions
L1. Latyshev1892, 50–51, № 12; 1.1. Latyshev1896, 89; 1.1.1. Diatroptov, Yemets1995, 24.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><g ref="#stauros"/> <expan><abbr>Ἐνθ</abbr><ex>άδε</ex></expan>
<lb n="2"/><expan><abbr>κατά</abbr><ex>κειται</ex></expan>
<lb n="3"/><expan><abbr>Νικια<lb n="4" break="no"/>ν</abbr><ex cert="low">ὸς</ex></expan> νήπιος.
</ab>
</div>Apparatus criticus
1: ἔνθαLatyshev,Diatroptov
3-4: ΝικιανὴLatyshev,Diatroptov
Translation
Here lies Nikianos (?), an infant.
Commentary
The inscription was acquired by A.A. Bobrinsky from E. Zaporozhsky in Kerch in 1891.
1–2. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.d. Latyshev wrote: "The last letter of the first line is undoubtedly A, not carved in its entirety due to the lack of space, while the sign S at the end of line 2 indicates an abbeviation." In reality, the letter at the end of line 1 is the same abbreviation sign as in line 2 (cf. V 273).
3–4. Also doubtful is Latyshev's reading of the name Νικιανή. A upward curving stroke between two nus in line 4 is quite different from the straight horizontal of the eta in the following ligature nu-eta. In addition, a female name Nikiane is not attested, while the masculine version, Nikianos, is known from IG XII.2 391 and IGR I.5 1354. For this reason, we should take the stroken after the first nu in line 4 as an abbreviation sign (also ending lines 1 and 2). Another, but less probable, variant is is the name Νικίας in accusative.
4. In Early Christian inscriptions, we often find indications of a child's age: βρέφος (ICUR 4040), παιδίον (IdC 57; Wessel 1989, № 994), ὀλιγοχρόνιος (Wessel 1989, № 646). The use of νήπιος is also attested: IGLS 2358; Canova 1954, № 169; IG XIV 461, 2290; ICUR 22792.
Images
© 2015 Andrey
Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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