Runic inscriptions in Hagia Sophia - inscriptions made by Scandinavian runes on the marble parapets of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul . They were probably scratched by soldiers from the Varangian guard of the emperor of Byzantium in the Middle Ages during long divine services.
Content
Halfdan's Inscription
The first of the runic inscriptions was discovered in 1964 on the parapet of the upper floor of the southern gallery [1] . The inscription is so erased that you can read only "(-) alftan" - a fragment of the ancient Norwegian name Halvdan . It is impossible to read the rest of the inscription, however, it is assumed that the inscription was a common formula "cut these runes in such a way" [2] .
Second inscription
The second inscription was discovered by Folke Högberg from Uppsala in 1975 in a niche in the western part of the same gallery where the first inscription was previously discovered. The discovery report was sent to the Runverket Department in Stockholm in 1984 , but remained unpublished. Archaeologist Mats G. Larsson discovered the runes again in 1988 and published discovery information [3] . He read the inscription as “ari: k” and interpreted it as “Ari s (did)”. Due to the uncertainty of reading, the inscription was not registered in the 1989 edition of the Nytt om runer No. 4 [2] .
Hoegberg in 1975 proposed a reading of runes other than that proposed by Larsson. In 1997, he was supported by Svein Indrelid, professor of archeology at the University of Bergen . Both believe that it says "arni", that is, the male name Arnie, and this is the whole inscription, and not part of some kind of expression. Larsson learned about the reading of Hoegberg in 1989, but continued to defend his interpretation of the inscription [2] .
2009 find
In 2009, when searching for Cyrillic graffiti inside the cathedral [4], Yu. A. Artamonov and A. A. Gippius on the second floor of the northern gallery in the eastern wall, a runic inscription was found on the window sill:
- arinbarþr rast runar þasi
- Arinbard carved these runes
In 2011, the inscription was examined by E. A. Melnikova , who made adjustments to the preliminary sifting made by Yu. A. Artamonov and allegedly dated the inscription to the second half of XI or XII in [5] .
Other inscriptions
Professor Indrelid made copies of five possible runic inscriptions on the parapet and transferred them to the Norwegian runic archive in 1997. There is a likelihood of other runic inscriptions in the cathedral, in which no special investigations of this kind were carried out. [2]
Notes
- ↑ Svärdström, Elisabeth. Runorna i Hagia Sofia // Fornvännen . - 1970. - No. 65 . - S. 247-249 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Knirk, James E. Runer i Hagia Sofia i Istanbul // Nytt om runer . - 1999. - No. 14 . - S. 26-27 . (inaccessible link)
- ↑ Larsson, Mats G. Nyfunna runor i Hagia Sofia // Fornvännen . - 1989. - No. 84 . - S. 12-14 .
- ↑ Artamonov Yu.A., Gippius A.A. Ancient Russian inscriptions of Sophia of Constantinople // Slavic Almanac 2011 . - 2012 .-- S. 41-52 . Archived on April 3, 2015.
- ↑ Melnikova E.A. New Scandinavian runic inscription from the Cathedral of St. Sofia in Istanbul // Ancient states of Eastern Europe. 2011 year . - 2013 .-- S. 521-529 .
See also
- Runes
- Rune Stone from Ryok
- Runestone U455, Nesby
- Runestones in Jelling
- Berezan runestone
Links
- James E. Knirk, Runer i Hagia Sofia i Istanbul , Nytt om runer 14 (1999), 26-27 (link not available)
- Relics Of The Varangians - Grafitti in Hagia Sophia (with pictures)