Byzantinische Zeitschrift, volume 117, heft 1 (2024).

CONTENTS INCLUDE

Inscribed blocks near Ladik (Laodikeia Katakekaumene) and the Mavrozomes family
Ahmet Oğuz Alp and Aytuğ Arslan

This article deals with inscribed architectural blocks used as spolia on a fountain and mosque at Kurşunlu near Ladik (Laodikeia Katakekaumene), featuring the names Alexios Komnenos, John Komnenos, and Hilarion. Although suggesting ties to Komnenian emperors initially, Byzantine-Seljuk complexities yield diverse interpretations. Analyzing historical events through contemporary resources and documents reveals a potential association with the Mavrozomes family, sharing the emperors’ names. This lineage emerges as a credible hypothesis, surpassing the less convincing identification of Alexios and John II Komnenos. The Kurşunlu inscriptions provide a new perspective on their influential role in political and cultural interactions between the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum and the Byzantines. However, ambiguity surrounding the mentioned individuals leaves the historical narrative partially veiled, emphasizing the ongoing quest to understand the nuanced contributions of the Mavrozomes family to the 13th century political and cultural landscape.

An Egyptian pilgrim in Asia Minor: linguistic placing of a graffito from Hierapolis
Arkadiy Avdokhin 

The use of epigraphy, including Christian pilgrimage graffiti,to trace geographic mobility in late antique and Byzantine studies has been limited. This article, however, relies on linguistic (lexicological and phonological) analysis of a 7th–8th graffito at the shrine of the apostle Philip at Hierapolis, Asia Minor, to unpack a regional – Egyptian – variety of the lat Greek koine used in the inscription, and to argue that whoever left the graffito had hailed from bilingual Greek- and Coptic-speaking regions of the Byzantine empire. This has larger implications for how we understand the appeal of this particular pilgrimage centre aswell as for broader methodologies of epigraphic research into long-haul pilgrimage patterns.

Early Byzantine pilgrim flasks (ampullae) and glass unguentaria from Tralles
Zeynep Çakmakçı, Ceren Ünal, and Nurettin Öztürk

In 2021, excavations were carried out in the Roman Villas Sector of the ancient city of Tralles around the remains of a building called the Hall with Apse. Two terracotta ampullae, one of which is broken, eight glass unguentaria, three of which are preserved completely, and two bronze coins were found on the mosaic floor in a square space located behind the apse. The broken ampulla has a cross motif in a medallion on a partially preserved side. The other ampulla, which is preserved completely, has half-length holy figures with inscriptions on both sides. The inscriptions indicate that one of the figures is St. Andrew while the other is unknown. The glass unguentaria are characterised by their small size, long tubular necks and conical bodies. The function of the mosaic-floored room is not known, but it may be surmised that it may have been used for the storage of objects brought after a holy pilgrimage. The ampullae possibly originated from Ephesus, the main pilgrimage centre and ampulla production site in the region. The small size of the glass unguentaria as well as the fact that they were found together with the ampullae suggest that they may have been used as a type of eulogia. Of the coins recovered with the finds, one is probably a half follis from the 6th century, the other belongs to the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527–565). These coins are the most important dating source for the other site finds.In addition, a comparative evaluation of ampulla and unguentarium specimens unearthed during excavations in western Anatolia also supports this dating.

Le Eparchie d’Italia nella Descriptio di Giorgio Ciprio: Indagine sulla natura dell’elenco e proposta ricostruttiva
Fabio Carminati and Andrea Mariani

This study takes into consideration the lists of toponyms classified under the eparchies of Italy in the so-called Descriptio Orbis Romani credited to George of Cyprus. The identification of them has always been extremely problematic, except for the lists of Calabria and Sicily. In order to propose a new identification of the toponyms, we will first introduce the hypothesis that the lists are resulting from a military document dated to the second half of the 6th century, and that the arche-type – which we are trying to reconstruct - was drawn up in Latin. The result seems particularly interesting for the eparchies Urbicaria and Campania.

Note critiche al testo della metafrasi planudea delle Heroides. Per un approfondimento di alcuni rappresentativi snodi ecdotico-testuali
Marco Carrozza

This paper dwells on some significant passages that can reveal various facets of the autograph which hands out Planudes’ work and, on this basis, aims to question some amendaments made by the previous editors (A.Palmer 1898 and M. Papathomopoulos 1976) on the text of the Planudean metaphrase of the Heroides, investigating, at the same time, some textual choices that stand out with-in the translation, with the awareness that it is impossible to reconstruct the so call codex Planudeus, namely the Latin manuscript to whom Planudes resort in order to carry out his metaphrase.

Tracing village communities: unknown inscriptions from the church of St. Philip, Ano Poula, Mani
Panayotis S. Katsafados and Sharon E. J. Gerstel

Two Late Byzantine inscriptions in the church of St. Philip, Ano Poula, Inner Mani, offer new evidence about the Maniote practice of gifting agricultural offerings and even animals to support the construction, decoration, and maintenance of village churches. The inscriptions – one carved and one painted – also demonstrate how families over many generations alienated properties in order to support local churches and venerated saints of regional import. The texts provide information about networks of villages and families across Mani, connecting communities on the plateau of Ano Poula with villages at its base, and families across the peninsula.

How to lament a fallen mouse? A parody of ancient lament in the Katomyomachia by Theodore Prodromos
Przemysław Marciniak, Katarzyna Piotrowska

This article analyses the lamentation scene in the Katomyomachia, penned by Theodore Prodromos. Specifically, this article examines its construction and relationship to the ancient models,as well as how the construction creates a comical effect in this parody.

La princesse Čičäk et le soi-disant imposteur Tiberius
Andrey Mitrofanov

The article examines the history of Tiberius of Pergamon, about which the Chronography of Theophanes and in Syriac sources (Bashîr/Bēsḗr) provide information. Tiberius enters the historical stage between 732and 737 with the support of the Umayyad Caliphate. He declared himself the escaped son of Emperor Justinian II (682–695; 705–711) and Empress Theodora of Khazaria(705–711), who, according to the official version, was killed in November 711. The story of Nikephoros and Theophanes about the assassination of Augustus Tiberius in 711 is analyzed, and it is concluded that this story is a fabrication and goes back to the historical source *S 718 reconstructed by Dmitry Afinogenov: the information from the Syrian sources about Bashîr/Bēsḗr is legendary, so that Tiberius of Pergamon may have been the real son of Justinian II and Theodora. The marriage of Constantine V to the Khazar princess Čičäk was organized by Leo III in order to form a military alliance against Tiberius and the Umayyad Caliphate behind him.

Hymn fragments on a papyrus from the ruins of the monastery at Deir el-Bala’izah, Egypt
Konstantine Panegyres

In BZ1 8 (1909), 309–323, Paul Maas published six hymns belonging to the fifth or sixth century. The earliest textual witnesses he was able to use were P. Lond. III 1029 of the sixth century (for only one of the six hymns), and MS Erlan-gensis 1234 (53v–56r), dated to 1025 (for all six of the hymns). Mercati in 1932 discovered that parts of the fourth and fifth hymn were also attested on a different papyrus of the fifth or sixth century(P.Lond.Lit. 235). No other witnesses from the same early period have since come to light. The purpose of this article is to publish a new papyrus fragment datable to the sixth century from the Bodleian Library, MS. Gr.liturg. f. 2(P), on which verses from the fourth and fifth hymns have also been preserved. This papyrus contains substantial textual variations, and is to be regarded as a witness of considerable importanceinthe textual tradition of the hymns.

„Nicht ungewiss ist das Ziel des göttlichen Wettlaufs“
Konrad F. Zawadzki

This article offers for the first time a hitherto unknown Greek fragment from Theodore of Mopsuestia’s commentary on 1 Corinthians. Edited from the Cod.Pantocrator. 28 (8th century), the fragment, which contains an interpretation of 1 Cor 9:26, can only be properly understood in connection with Theodore’s interpretation of 1 Cor 9:24–25. This text, which was edited, albeit incorrectly, by Staabin 1933, is re-edited and discussed in detail in this article. At the center of Theodore’s interpretations is the race for the imperishable wreath and the question of who will get it.