No 13

Location: On the edge of the railing of the last (southern) Lodge on the south side of the so-called 'Lodge of the Empress'.

Material: Marble surface, 6th century.

Dimensions: Three-line inscription with total height 5.4 cm and 32 cm long. The length of the first line is 28.4 cm with letter heights – Ꙁ – 1.1cm; Б – 1 cm; Ж – 0.6 cm; И₁₆, Ю₂₃ – 0.3 cm; Т, Ф – 0.8 cm; А – 1 cm; second line – 32 cm with letter heights Г, К – 1.1 cm; И, А – 1 cm; П, Ю₂ – 0.8 cm; П – 0.6 cm; Ꙁ, У, А₂, И₄ – 1.3 cm; Р – 1.8 cm; Б, Ж, С₂₂, В – 0.9 cm; И – 0.3 cm; Ю – 0.5 cm; Ф – 1.2 cm; third line – 18 cm with letters – Д, Ж, Т – 1.1 cm; Ь – 1.4 cm; Б – 1 cm; И – 0.9 cm; Н, О – 0.7 cm

Condition: Worn out, slightly legible letters.

Technique: Incised.

Language: Old Slavonic.

Scripture: Cyrillic.

Text♦:

Restored text:              

Translation: Lord, help your Gods servant Ostafij (Eustathios) of Moscow… God willing

Attribution: Prayer inscription.

Announced: Y. А. Artamonov, I. В. Zaitsev, Noviye istochniki o palomnichestvo russkih luydey v hram Sv. Sofii v Konstantinopole-Stambule, v: Rus i Vizantiya : Mesto stran vizantiiskogo kruga vo vzaimootnosheniah Vostoka i Zapada. Tezisy dokladov XVIII Vserossiiskoy nauchnoy sessii vizantistov. Moskva, 20–21 octobrya 2008, Moscow 2008, 14; Yu. А. Artamonov, I. В. Zaitsev. Ashche kto poidet v Konstantinopole: Russkie luydi v hrame Svyatoy Sofii, Rodina 7, 2008, 62; Y. A. Artamonov, A. A. Gippius, Old Russian Inscriptions of St. Sophia of Constantinople, Slavic Almanac, Moscow 2011, 44; A. Y. A. Artamonov, A. A. Gippius, I. V. Zaitsev, Old Russian Inscriptions-Graffiti of St. Sophia of Constantinople, 1150 Years of Russian Statehood and Culture, Moscow 2012, 287.

Publication: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 52-53.

Commentary: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 53.

Palaeography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 53.

Date: 15th century AD.