Κ[ύρι]ε βοήθ[ε]ι / βοηθ[ε]ῖ Θεόδωρος διάκονος κελε[ύ]οντι τῷ γνησίῳ ἡμῶν ... (early Byzantine inscription)

suskun · 3 · 1929

billberg23

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Again, you've given us a very difficult stone, suskun!  We'll do our best here, and hope that someone with more expertise can answer the many questions this inscription raises.  For example, it contains several ligatures (contractions and/or abbreviations) which I personally don't recognize.

It seems to begin with an invocation: Κ[ύρι]ε βοήθ[ε]ι ("Lord, help us!").*  A Christian deacon/priest named Theodoros (Θεόδωρος διάκονος) is involved with setting up (ἀνεστήσωμεν, ἀνέστησαν) something, perhaps the memorial (μνήμη) mentioned in line 6, "at the bidding of one of our kindred" (κελε[ύ]οντι τῷ γνησίῳ ἡμῶν).  It may be for the tomb of Iohannes (Ἰωάνου) in line 7.

All we can really say for certain at this point is that the inscription is a dedication.  Judging by the ligatures and spelling difficulties, it seems to be from the early Byzantine period, maybe 5th or 6th century A.D.

* An alternative interpretation, reading βοηθεῖ instead of βοήθει in the first line, might be this:  "Lord, Theodoros the deacon is helping one of our kindred, the deacon ..., who is bidding us to set up ..."
« Last Edit: 01 Jun, 2008, 01:26:39 by billberg23 »



billberg23

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After re-examining your photo, suskun, I'm now reading μνήμης χάριν Ἰωάνου in lines 6-7, "in memory of Iohannes."  The scratch in the middle of the letter sigma (C) had made it look like an epsilon (E).  So the μνήμη is a memory, not a physical memorial.
« Last Edit: 01 Jun, 2008, 01:28:38 by billberg23 »


 

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