Archive

P.V. Kuzenkov (Sevastopol), Yu.M. Mogarichev (Simferopol) – Epitaph of the Comites of Abraham and Cosmas in the “Temple with a Baptistery” (Inkerman, Crimea): Towards Dating the Temple

download PDF

Abstract

The “Church with a Baptistery” is located on the southern cliff of the Monastery Rock in Inkerman. This is one of the cave churches of the mountainous Crimea. The temple is a singlenave basilica. It has a baptistery, a burial vault arranged in the north, and a separate tomb near the northern wall, decorated with a niche with a Greek inscription. The inscription mentions the comites Abraham and Cosmas, who died one after the other and were buried in the same tomb. The rooms of the temple were decorated with paintings, the nature of which allowed the construction to be attributed to the 13th–14th cc. However, the date in the inscription above the tomb, by all indications contemporary with the temple, has not been reliably read till now. At present, most of the inscription has been lost, but careful analysis of the existing tracings and a photograph from 1937 allows us to discern the date of death of the buried – the first and second months of 6829 A.M. Thus, the tomb is dated to the autumn of AD 1320, and the “temple with the baptismal font” itself can, with a high degree of probability, be dated to the beginning of the 14th c.

Keywords

Crimea, Mountainous South-Western Taurica, Inkerman, cave churches, frescoes, inscriptions.

Pavel V. Kuzenkov, Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Yuriy M. Mogarichev, Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Russia; Crimean Republican Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education, Simferopol, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bertier de la Garde, A.L. 2012: Ostatki drevnikh sooruzheniy v okrestnostyakh Sevastopolya i peschernye goroda Kryma [Remains of Ancient Structures in the Vicinity of Sevastopol and Cave Cities of Crimea]. In: Bertier de la Garde, A.L. Izbrannye trudy po istorii srednevekovogo Kryma [Selected Works on the History of Medieval Crimea]. Simferopol, 7–153. 1st. ed: Zapiski Odesskogo obshchestva istorii i drevnostey [Transactions of the Odessa Society for History and Antiquities] XIV (1886), 166–282.

Chepelev, V.N. 1927: Peshchernyy khram v Inkermane [Cave Temple in Inkerman]. In: Trudy etnografo-arheologicheskogo muzeya 1-go MGU [Proceedings of the Ethnographic and Archaeological Museum of the 1st Moscow State University] 1. Moscow, 43–46.

Dombrovskiy, O.I. 1966: Freski srednevekovogo Kryma [Frescoes of Medieval Crimea]. Kiev.

Filipenko, V.F. 1993: K istorii Inkermanskogo peshchernogo monastyrya (pervyy etap sushchestvovaniya) [On the History of the Inkerman Cave Monastery (the First Stage of its Existence)]. In: Yu.M. Mogarychev (ed.), Istoriya i arkheologiya Yugo-Zapadnogo Kryma [History and Archaeology of Southwestern Crimea]. Simferopol, 108–125.

Kuzenkov, P.V. 2015: Khristianskie khronologicheskie sistemy [Christian Chronological Systems]. Moscow.

Latyshev, V.V. 1896: Sbornik grecheskih nadpisey khristianskikh vremen iz Yuzhnoy Rossii [Miscellanea of Greek Inscriptions from Christian Times from Southern Russia]. Saint Petersburg.

Latyshev, V.V. 1897: Zametki k khristianskim nadpisyam iz Kryma [Notes to Christian Inscriptions from Crimea] Zapiski Odesskogo obshchestva istorii i drevnostey [Notes of the Odessa Society for History and Antiquities] XX, 149–162.

Mogarichev, Yu.M. 1997: Peshchernye tserkvi Tavriki [Cave Churches of Taurica]. Simferopol.

Mogarichev, Yu.M., Ergina, A.S. 2024: Monumental’naya zhivopis’ srednevekovoy Tavriki (peshchernye tserkvi) [Monumental Painting of Medieval Taurica (Cave Churches)]. Simferopol.

Mogarichev, Yu.M. 1993: K diskussii o skal’noy arkhitekture Kryma [Towards a Discussion about the Rock Architecture of Crimea]. In: Yu.M. Mogarychev (ed.), Istoriya i arkheologiya Yugo-Zapadnogo Kryma [History and Archaeology of Southwestern Crimea]. Simferopol, 213–225.

Repnikov, N.I. 1937: Otchet Inkermanskoy arheologicheskoy ekspeditsii 1937 g. [Report of the Inkerman Archaeological Expedition 1937]. Archive of the Institute of History of Material Culture RAS]. Collection 2. Folder 227.

Repnikov, N.I. Materialy k arkheologicheskoy karte Yugo-Zapadnogo nagor’ya Kryma [Materials on the Archaeological Map of the Southwest Plateau of Crimea]. Archive of the Institute of History of Material Culture RAS]. Collection 10, Folder 10.

Strukov, D.M. 1876: Drevnie pamyatniki khristianstva v Tavride [Ancient Monuments of the Christianity in Taurida]. Moscow.

Tolstoy, I.I., Kondakov, N.P. 1891: Russkie drevnosti v pamyatnikakh iskusstva [Russian Antiquities in Art Monuments]. Sankt Peterburg.

Vinogradov, A.Yu. 2005: «Razryad» i «chast’»: kak nam obustroit’ Feodoro? [“Rank” and “Part”: How Should We Arrange Theodoro?]. Sugdeyskiy sbornik [Miscellanea Sugdaica] II. Kiev–Sudak, 431–437.

Vinogradov, A.Yu. 2015: Nadpisi Severnogo Prichernomor’ya V (Vizantiyskie nadpisi) [Inscriptions of the Northern Black Sea Region V (Byzantine Inscriptions)]. https://iospe.kcl. ac.uk/5.151-ru.html.

Vinogradov, A.Yu., Gaydukov, N.E., Zheltov, M.S. 2005: Peshchernye khramy Tavriki: k probleme tipologii i khronologii [Cave Churches of Taurica: The problems of Typology and Chronology]. Rossiyskaya akrheologiya [Russian Archaeology] 1, 72–80.

Details
Hits: 26