No 16

Location: On the seventh marble slab of the paneling, on the wall to the right of the so-called 'Lodge of the Empress', at a height of 145 cm above the floor-level.

Material: Marble surface, 6th century.

Dimensions: Three-line inscription with a length of the first line of 7.5 cm and letter heights between 0.5 cm (П) and 1.5 cm (Р). The length of the second line is 2.5 cm and the letters ranged in height from 1.6 cm (Н) to 2.2 cm (Г). The third line is 5.7 cm long and the height of the letters varies between 0.3 cm (Ѧ) and 1.3 cm (А).

Condition: Lightly incised first line and clearly legible second row.

Technique: Incised.

Language: Old Slavonic.

Scripture: Cyrillic.

Text♦:

Restored text:    

Translation: Patriarch, Sire, have mercy on me.

Attribution: Invocation to the patriarch.

Announced: Y. A. Artamonov, A. A. Gippius. Ю. Drevnoruskiye nadpisi Sofii Konstantinopolskoy, v.: Slavyanskii almanah, Moscow 2011, 48; Y. A. Artamonov, A. A. Gippius, I. V. Zaitsev, Drevnoruskiye nadpisi-graffiti Konstantinopolskoy Sofii, v: 1150 lyet Rosiiskoy gosudarstvenosti i kultury, Москва 2012, 287).

Publication: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 59-61.

Commentary: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 60.

Palaeography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 60.

Orthography: Tomov, Nepoznatiyat hram „Sv. Sofia”, 61.

Date: Late 14th – early 15th century AD.