Épitaphes paléochrétiennes et médiévales d’Eğri Taş kilisesi à Ihlara en Cappadoce

Abstract

The Eğri Taş kilisesi complex is located on the right bank of Melendiz Suyu, in the Ihlara Valley in Cappadocia. Excavated in the rock at the foot of the cliff which looms over the river, it is centered around a church dedicated to Theotokos and decorated between 921 and 927, in the reign of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Romanus 1st Lecapenus and his son Christophorus. Apart from the painted church, Eğri Taş also includes several burial spaces where twenty-four funerary inscriptions are preserved to this day. These inscriptions, poorly known for the most part and only incompletely published, can provide with material of considerable importance for the study of Christian funerary epigraphy. In this article I present a new edition of these epitaphs, based on a long research project involving in situ deciphering and reexamination, carried out over three fieldwork trips to the region in 2006, 2012 and 2019. This epigraphic fieldwork led me to correct and/or complete readings of eleven inscriptions known from previous editions and to identify thirteen unpublished ones. It also enabled me to date the inscriptions into two periods which correspond to the main phases of occupation of the site: one group is late antique, probably from the 6th century, the other being medieval, dating from the 9th-10th and 11th centuries.

Keywords

• Cappadocia
• Ihlara Valley
• Eğri Taş Kilisesi
• Christian epitaphs in Greek
• late Antiquity
• medieval period
• gnomic epigram
• cross
• Theotokos
• personal names
• laypersons
• priest
• monk
• nun

Kapadokya Ihlara’daki Eğri Taş Kilisesi’nin Erken Hıristiyan ve Ortaçağ Mezar Yazıtları

Abstract

Eğri Taş kilisesi kompleksi, Kapadokya'daki Ihlara Vadisi'nde, Melendiz Suyu’nun sağ kıyısında yer almaktadır. Nehrin üzerinde yükselen uçurumun eteğindeki kayaya kazılarak Theotokos'a adanmış ve 921 ile 927 yılları arasında, Konstantin VII Porphyrogenitus, Romanus 1. Lecapenus ve oğlu Christophorus döneminde dekore edilmiş bir kilise etrafında konumlanmaktadır. Boyalı kilisenin yanı sıra Eğri Taş, yirmi dört mezar yazıtının günümüze kadar korunduğu birkaç mezar alanını da içermektedir. Çoğunlukla az bilinen ve sadece eksik bir şekilde yayınlanan bu yazıtlar, Hıristiyan mezar epigrafisi çalışmaları için önemli bir malzeme sağlama potansiyeline sahiptir. Bu makalede, çok sayıda dijital fotoğraf çekimiyle tamamlanmış, yerinde gerçekleştirilen bir okuma ve düzeltme çalışmasına dayanan Eğri Taş Kilisesi’nin mezar yazıtlarının yeni bir edisyo¬nunu sunuyorum. 2006, 2012 ve 2019’daki üç epigrafik araştırma gezisi şeklinde gerçekleştirilen bu çalışma, bana daha önceki edisyonlardan bilinen onbir yazıtın okumasını düzeltme ve tamamlama ve hiç yayınlanmamış onüç yazıtı da tespit etme imkânı verdi. Aynı zamanda bana yazıtları sit alanının ana kullanım evrelerine tekabül eden iki döneme tarihlendirme olanağı verdi: bunlardan birincisi Erken Hıristiyan Dönemi, diğeri de Orta Çağ’ın 9.-10. ve 11. yüzyıllar arasında kalan dönemidir.

Keywords

• Kapadokya
• Ihlara Vadisi
• Eğri Taş Kilisesi
• Yunanca Hıristiyan mezar yazıtları
• Geç Antik Çağ
• Orta Çağ
• gnomik epigram
• haç
• Theotokos
• Tanrı Anası Meryem
• ölü isimleri
• rahip
• keşiş
• rahibe
• seküler (din adamı olmayan) ölü isimleri

Late Antique and Medieval Epitaphs from the Eğri Taş Kilisesi at Ihlara in Cappadocia

Abstract

The Eğri Taş kilisesi complex is located on the right bank of Melendiz Suyu, in the Ihlara Valley in Cappadocia. Excavated in the rock at the foot of the cliff which looms over the river, it is centered around a church dedicated to Theotokos and decorated between 921 and 927, in the reign of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Romanus 1st Lecapenus and his son Christophorus. Apart from the painted church, Eğri Taş also includes several burial spaces where twenty-four funerary inscriptions are preserved to this day. These inscriptions, poorly known for the most part and only incompletely published, can provide with material of considerable importance for the study of Christian funerary epigraphy. In this article I present a new edition of these epitaphs, based on a long research project involving in situ deciphering and reexamination, carried out over three fieldwork trips to the region in 2006, 2012 and 2019. This epigraphic fieldwork led me to correct and/or complete readings of eleven inscriptions known from previous editions and to identify thirteen unpublished ones. It also enabled me to date the inscriptions into two periods which correspond to the main phases of occupation of the site: one group is late antique, probably from the 6th century, the other being medieval, dating from the 9th-10th and 11th centuries.

Keywords

• Christian epitaphs in Greek
• Cappadocia
• Ihlara Valley
• Eğri Taş Kilisesi
• late Antiquity
• medieval period
• gnomic epigram
• cross
• Theotokos
• personal names
• laypersons
• priest
• monk
• nun

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