No 16

Location: On the railing of the leftmost balustrade in the central part of the north gallery.

Material: Marble surface, 6th century.

Dimensions: The letters in the first section are arranged in two lines, relatively slender and even, and vary in height from 2 cm (Ъ) to 4 cm (С). The length is approximately the same for both lines, 16.5 cm. The second part is inclined to the left and diagonally and gives the impression of a separately made addition with letters ranging in height from 2 cm (О) to 4.2 cm (П). This part of the inscription is 40 cm long.

Condition: Shallowly incised and difficult to distinguish letters in the first and third lines, clear, though flat in places in the second and the first five letters in the third line.

Technique: Incised.

Language: Old Slavonic.

Scripture: Cyrillic.

Text ♦:

Restored text:       

Translation: Aleksej Bezneg (the Unhappy), who killed two men, wrote [this]

Attribution: Autograph inscription.

Publications: Т. Тhomov, Edin grafit za prestyplenie i pokayanie ot Sv. Sofiav Konstantinopol, Palaeobulgarica XXXVIII/3, 2014, 61-72; Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 154-159.

COMMENTARY: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 154-157.

Palaeography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 157-159.

Orthography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 159.

Date: Second half of the 14th century AD.