Shinnie and Chittick’s excavations, room Y, level 1
Excavation no.
I 14
Present location
Sudan National Museum, Khartoum
Museum no.
SNM 11604
Medium
stela
Technique
incised
Type of text
epitaph
Language
Greek
Content
epitaph of Ioannes the Little, monk
Date
700–999
Notes
Material
sandstone
Object dimensions
H: 42; W: 30; Th: 6.5–7
Text dimensions
Object colour
grey
Text colour
Lines
8 horizontal, 1 vertical
Height of letters
1.5–1.7
Description
Complete rectangular slab. Only the lower right corner missing, but not affecting the text. The epigraphic field framed by an incised line, double on top, leaving narrow outer margins. The inscribed text occupies only three quarters of the epigraphic field, the lowermost quarter was uninscribed. The layout of the inscription is peculiar, organised around and inside a large incised cross of roughly equal bars. The outline of the cross is executed considerably deeper than the line delineating the epigraphic field. The first part of the text is arranged in four quarters around the cross, each quarter consisting of three lines, starting in the upper left corner and ending in the lower right (the death-name-date lemma). The text then continues inside the arms of the cross (prayer), first in the vertical bar, then in the horizontal one.
Decorative elements
large cross with even arms in the middle, prayer written within it, rest of inscription between arms
State of preservation
text complete, but lower right corner of stone chipped off; edges worn out; surface eroded
Date
700–999
Chronological systems
Egyptian calendar
Dating formulae
ⲙⲏⲛⲓ ⲙⲉⲭⲉⲓⲣ ⲕ̄︤ⲃ̣︥̄
Transcription
"in the month of Mecheir, (day) 22" (lower right corner)