No 4
Location: On the marble railing of the second sector of the so-called 'Lodge of the Empress'.
Material: Marble surface, 6th century.
Dimensions: Four-line inscription accompanied by a cross at the top with total height 8.5 cm and 15 cm in length. The cross, 4 cm high and with 1.8 cm long arms (first) and 3 cm long arms (second), stands on a base 1.8 cm high and 4.3 cm wide, which extends to the third line of the inscription. The height of the letters between the arms varies from 0.3 (H) to 0.6 (А). The inscription is arranged in four lines. The first line is 4 cm long and the height of the letters ranges from 0.5 cm (Г) to 0.6 cm (П, Д, H). The length of the second line is 5 cm and the height of the letters varies from 0.4 cm (М) to 0.6 cm (П, H, О) to 1 cm (Ꙁ). The third line has a length of 10.4 cm and the letter heights range from 0.5 cm (Е), 0.8 cm (Б, О, С, М), 1.0 cm (В, Р, У) to 1.6 cm (Е). The last, fourth line has a length of 15 cm and letter heights of 0.6 cm (Ь), over 1 cm (N, О, В) to 1.5 cm (А, Г, Р).
Condition: Lightly incised letters, barely visible in places.
Technique: Incised.
Language: Old Slavonic.
Scripture: Cyrillic.
Restored text:
Translation: Jesus Christ conquers. Lord, help your sinful servant Nasil
Attribution: Prayer inscription.
Announced: Y. A. Artamonov, I. V. Zaitsev, New sources on the pilgrimage of Russian people to the temple of St. Sophia in Constantinople-Stamboul, in: Rus i Vizantia: Mesto stran vizantiiskogo gruga vo vzaimootnosheniyah Vostoka i Zapada. Tezisy dokladov XVIII Vserosiiskoy nauchnoy sessii vizantistov, Moscow, October 20-21, 2008, Moscow 2008, 13; Y. A. Artamonov, I. V. Zaitsev, Ashte kto poidet v Konstantinopole: Ruskiye luydi v hrame Sviatoy Sofii, Rodina 7, 2008, 61.
Publication: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 35-38.
Commentary: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 36.
Palaeography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 37.
Orthography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 37-38.
Date: Mid-12th century AD.