V 88a. Cherson.Epitaph of an unknown, XIIIth century C.E.

Monument

Type

Stele. 

Material

Limestone. 

Dimensions (cm)

H.15.0, W.14.0, Th.8.0.

Additional description

Bottom part of a stele with a cross on the back side. Broken at the top. 

Place of Origin

Cherson. 

Find place

Sevastopol (Chersonesos). 

Find context

Area of the Main Street. 

Find circumstances

November 1969, chance find by V. Orekhov 

Modern location

Sevastopol, Crimea. 

Institution and inventory

National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, НВФ 133. 

Autopsy

June 2014. 

Epigraphic field

Position

Inscribed on the front. 

Lettering

Lapidary style. Lambda with free-stading left hasta and capping horizontal stroke pointing left, flattened mu. 

Letterheights (cm)

1.0–2.4.

Text

Category

Epitaph. 

Date

XIIIth century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography. 

Editions

Unpublished. 

Edition

[---]
[Μ]έου
[εἰς] τ(ὰ) λ´.

Diplomatic

[---]
[.]ΕΟΥ
[...]ΤΛ

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      <lb/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="line"/>
      <lb n="1"/><rs type="month" ref="mai"><supplied reason="lost">Μ</supplied>έου</rs>
      <lb n="2"/><supplied reason="lost">εἰς</supplied>
      <expan><abbr>τ</abbr><ex>ὰ</ex></expan> <num value="30">λ</num>.
   </ab>
   </div>

Translation

... May 30th.

 

Commentary

The end of an epitaph with a date has survived. The form Mέου is paralleled in IGLS 1912.

Palaeographic features (e.g., the shape of lambda) suggest a Late Byzantine date, but considering the history of Cherson, we should probably date the inscription no later than the XIIIth century.

 

Images

 Photograph of face 1

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