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φιλοτιμία καλεῖ τέχν' ὑπερόντα κτλ. -> ambition for honor is calling superior sons ... (Inscription on church wall, Constantinople)

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trkyem:
Hi,

Can you please help me with this translation? I hope it does not exceed the limit....

billberg23:
Welcome back, trkyem!  Here is the raw text, as it seems to read.  Names, letter forms, and degenerate spelliing suggest a very late date.  There seems to be an invocation of one "Nicephorus" and an association with one or more of the Byzantine emperors named "Constantine," though it's not clear whether these names belong to the eighth century or to the tenth (Constantine VII?  Constantine VIII?  Nicephorus Phocas?  Nicephorus the historian, patriarch of Constantinople 8th-9th cent.?)  Alternatively, it may be an earlier Nicephorus;  he seems to be invoked as υ[ἱ]ὲ Ἀρέστου, "son of Arestes (misspelling of 'Orestes')."  "Orestes" was a name common to a number of public figures in the fifth century.  
  
I suspect the individual lines continued onto another stone, now separated, that once adjoined this stone.  Let's give others time to see what they can make of it.  It's an intriguing inscription, and apparently full of intrigue!

[              ΦΙΛΟΤΙΜΙΑ KA]ΛΕΙ ΤΕΧΝ' ΥΠΕΡΟΝΤΑ·  
[         ΟΥΚ ΟΙΔΑΤΕ; ΑΛΛ'] ΕΙΠΕ ΠΟΤ'·  ΚΑΙ ΤΙΣ;  
[ ΑΙΤΙΟΣ ΤΟΙΟΥΤ' ΕΡΓΟΥ ] ΜΑΛΛΙΣΤΑ ΩΣ ΥΕ ΑΡΕΣΤΟΥ·
[ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΥ                ΝΥΝ] ΔΕΡΚΩΝ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΕ Ο ΗΜΩΝ  
[                                    ] ΔΗΠΟΥ ΜΑΛΛΙΣΤΑ ΟΝΤΟΣ
[ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΣ             ] ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ ΤΕ ΔΑΝΙΗΛ  
[ΚΑΙ ΓΑΡ ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΣ ΚΩΝ]ΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ·  ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΣ  
[                                    ] ΕΝΘΑΔΕ ΧΡΗΣΤΟΣ·

Where does the inscription come from, trkyem?

trkyem:
Glad to be back! Thank you. The inscription is from Istanbul.

trkyem:
By the way, there's actually more to the inscription. I sent only a portion of it so it wouldn't exceed the limit. If you wan't to use it for reference you can look at the images below. Thanks a lot!

billberg23:
Aha!  So the rest of the inscription is to the left, with the big circular wreath dividing whole sentences.  No wonder we couldn't read it!

Unfortunately, the new portions you've just revealed are too faint and/or blurry to read, and of course they far exceed the 12-word limit.  If you live in Istanbul, perhaps you can go back and re-photograph those portions more clearly.  You could then hire someone here to translate them, advertising under our "Post a Translation Job!" forum.

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