No 31

Location: On the window sill under a bricked-up window in a niche on the east wall of the north gallery at a height of 90 cm above the floor level.

Material: Marble surface, 6th century.

Dimensions: One-line inscription 7.3 cm long. The height of the relatively straight and even letters vary between 0.6 cm (Е) to 1.4 cm (К).

Condition: Lightly incised but clearly legible.

Technique: Incised.

Language: Old Slavonic.

Scripture: Cyrillic.

Text ♦:  

Translation: Oleksa [Aleksej] wrote [this]

Attribution: Autograph inscription.

Announced: Y. A. Artamonov, А. А. Gippius, I. V. Zaitsev, Drevnerusskie nadpisi-graffiti Konstantinopolskoy Sofii, v: 1150 let Rossiiskoy gosudarstvenosti i kultury, Moscow 2012, 290.

Publications: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 179-180.

Palaeography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 180.

Orthography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 180.

Date: Middle of the 12th century AD.