Marangon, D. (2020), Latin Inscriptions in the Arap Camii, in: Ida Toth and A. Rhoby (eds.), Materials for the Study of Late Antique and Medieval Greek and Latin Inscriptions in Istanbul a Revised and Expanded Booklet, Vienna and Oxford (original) (raw)
The paper examines inscriptional material dating back to a pivotal period in Byzantine writing culture. The seventh century has been identified as the time when inscribed texts diminish in number, and entire inscriptional categories disappear, while much less attention has been paid to the more productive aspects of its epigraphic habit. These include the appearance of twelve-syllable inscriptional verses, strong epigraphic evidence for imperial ideology, warfare and factional strife, and, most outstandingly, the proliferation of inscribed objects associated ever more elaborate religious practices, and, more generally, everyday life and popular beliefs. To some extent seventh-century inscriptions continue late antique traditions, but they also testifying to the introduction of some novel epigraphic practices, and to the messages of beneficence, piety and commemoration as their most prevalent features. This paper explores the epigraphic manifestations and ramifications of this transformation.
Medieval Latin Inscriptions in Constantinople
Materials for the Study of Late Antique and Medieval Greek and Latin Inscriptions in Istanbul. A Revised and Expanded Booklet, 2020
Materials for the Study of Late Antique and Medieval Greek and Latin Inscriptions in Istanbul. A Revised and Expanded Booklet. Prepared by I. Toth and A. Rhoby, Oxford and Vienna, 2020, p. 97-106 https://doi.org/10.1553/Inscriptions\_in\_Istanbul
Inscribing Texts in Byzantium: Continuities and Transformations
Papers from the Forty-Ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Exeter College, Oxford, 18-20 March 2016, 2020
In spite of the striking abundance of extant primary material, Byzantine epigraphy remains uncharted territory. The volume of the Proceedings of the 49th SPBS Spring Symposium aims to promote the field of Byzantine epigraphy as a whole, and topics and subjects covered include: Byzantine attitudes towards the inscribed word, the questions of continuity and transformation, the context and function of epigraphic evidence, the levels of formality and authority, the material aspect of writing, and the verbal, visual and symbolic meaning of inscribed texts. The collection is intended as a valuable scholarly resource presenting and examining a substantial quantity of diverse epigraphic material, and outlining the chronological development of epigraphic habits, and of individual epigraphic genres in Byzantium.
“Remarks on Old and New Middle Byzantine Inscriptions from Athens”
H. Saradi (ed.), Byzantine Athens. Proceedings of a Conference (Athens, May 21-23, 2016, Byzantine and Christian Museum), 2021
Athens, as regards its epigraphic material evidence, is one of the richest cities in medieval Byzantium and can easily outcompete other urban centres of the period. This phenomenon, which bears the hallmark of a local and singular set of circumstances, is indeed owed to the numerous graffiti engraved on its ancient monuments. The graffiti apart, an ample number of inscriptions cut in stone has survived, providing information on various aspects of the civic administration, the societal fabric or the religious practices of the citizens of Athens. For the colloquium on Byzantine Athens, Ι reviewed the latter group regarding their form and content, recognizing that some of this epigraphic material has not been critically re-examined since its first publication.
Materials for the Study of Late Antique and Medieval Greek and Latin Inscriptions in Istanbul
2020
This six-line dodecasyllable epigram is inscribed on the east face of the base of the Masonry Obelisk (Built Obelisk) in the Hippodrome in Constantinople (fig. 1). It is still in situ, although damaged; it is also recorded in several surviving manuscripts. The most recent edition of the text can be found in A. Rhoby, Epigramme auf Stein, no. TR 53, with previous bibliography. The Masonry Obelisk was likely constructed in the fourth century CE, perhaps as an Ersatz-monument for a monolithic Egyptian Obelisk that had been delayed in transport (possibly the one later erected as the Theodosian Obelisk in the Hippodrome) (See, Ine Jacobs, Chapter 2). The Masonry Obelisk is said to be 32 meters high, the same height as the Lateran Obelisk in Rome, which was erected under Constantius II in the Circus Maximus in 357. Whatever the date of the original construction of the Masonry Obelisk in Constantinople, it had apparently fallen into disrepair by the tenth century, when Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913-959) had it renovated and covered with bronze platting (now lost). This activity was commemorated in the epigram inscribed on the obelisk's base. It is unclear how, or whether, the bronze platting was attached to the ashlar stones of the obelisk itself, or whether it covered only the obelisk's base, where numerous revetment holes are apparent on every side of the base (fig. 2), except for the east side, which bears the inscription. Written in majuscule letters without accents, with a regular layout, the epigram emphasizes the "wonder" and "spectacle" aspects of the obelisk. The top two lines of the inscription are badly abraded, although it is unclear whether it was intentionally damaged at some late date or it has simply been worn over time. Constantine VII's son, Romanos, is mentioned in the text, which gives a date for the composition between 945-959, when Romanos was co-emperor with this father. The praise given to Romanos as Constantine's "child" may suggest the need to legitimize this Romanos in contrast with Constantine's deposed father-in-law, Romanos Lekapenos, or alternatively, it may indicate that the epigram was composed late in Constantine VII's reign by someone more closely affiliated with the young heir to the throne, as recently suggested by P. Magdalino.
Revue Philosophique de Louvain, 2014
This volume collects, in a revised, corrected and expanded form, about 1,200 annual notices of publications of Christian inscriptions from the territories of the Byzantine empire that were originally published in the Bulletin epigraphique of the Revues des Etudes grecques between 1987 and 2004, a period when greater and better-informed attention was paid to this material than previously. Denis Feissel was responsible for the majority of the notices, as, continuing in the footsteps of Louis Ro...
Close examination of the apse painting of Christ in Glory in the Pancarlık church in Cappadocia, Turkey, from the ninth or tenth century, reveals the important role of painted inscriptions in this program. The prominent central epigraph has been published previously, but with uncertainty about the reading of damaged letters. With the text of this inscription here confirmed , its significance becomes clear. The epigraph mentions " great fear, " which proves key to interpreting the apse program and the intended viewer response. It can be related to two other Cappadocian inscriptions, heretofore read incorrectly and not connected with the Pancarlık example. I propose that this group of rhythmic but nonmetrical inscriptions represents a local, oral tradition, an element of popular piety generally lost to scholars. The Pancarlık apse inscription draws on this tradition but transforms it to heighten its impact on the viewer. I also present additional dipinti from the apse, including one in an unusual mirror-image script. Together with the Christ in Glory in the apse, the painted inscriptions are active agents that create a space for personal reflection and emotional response by well-educated ecclesiastics and barely literate laypersons alike; it does not require extensive theological or exegetical knowledge. The Pancarlık church therefore encourages us to explore the sophisticated use of words and images in a non-Constantinopolitan context as well as the opportunities for viewer response to a middle Byzantine painted program.
A Short History of Byzantine Epigraphy
Vorgelegt von w. M. JOHANNES KODER in der Sitzung vom 24. Oktober 2014 Umschlagbild: Orchomenos, church of Skripou, inscription of central apsis (a. 873/74), ed. N. OIKONOMIDÈS, TM 12 (1994) 479-493 © Andreas Rhoby Mit Beschluss der philosophisch-historischen Klasse in der Sitzung vom 23. März 2006 wurde die Reihe Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Byzantinistik in Veröffentlichungen zur Byzanzforschung umbenannt; die bisherige Zählung wird dabei fortgeführt.
Deux inscriptions byzantines de Macédoine et de Thrace découvertes par F. Uspenskij en 1898 et 1912
Vinogradov A., Feissel D. Deux inscriptions byzantines de Macédoine et de Thrace découvertes par F. Uspenskij en 1898 et 1912 // Traveaux et memoires. 2023. Vol. 27. P. 541-552., 2023
Two previously unpublished Greek inscriptions from the 6th century have been found in the collection of squeezes of the former Russian Archaeological Institute at Constantinople, kept in Saint Petersburg. 1) The epitaph of Laurentios had been discovered in 1898 in Bitola, ancient Heraclea Lyncestis. Described as an “orthodox father” and “crowned by the seats of priests,” Laurentios, who died in 536, was probably bishop of Heraclea. This is probably also the case with Epiphanios, whose epitaph is republished here because some of its formulas are also present in that of Laurentios. 2) The epitaph of the priest Adolios, discovered in 1912 at Didymoteichon, ancient Plotinopolis, is dated to the consulate of Belisarius in 535.
Hagia Eirene in Constantinople
I. Toth - A. Rhoby (eds), Materials for the Study of Late Antique and Medieval Greek Inscriptions in Istanbul. A Revised and Expanded Booklet, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Oxford and Vienna[ISBN 978-3-200-06987-9 (Print Edition), ISBN 978-3-7001-8370-9 (Online Edition)], 2020