Samuil's Inscription represents the content found on the tombstone of

Samuel of Bulgaria Samuel (also Samuil; bg, Самуил, ; mk, Самоил/Самуил, ; Old Church Slavonic: Самоилъ; died October 6, 1014) was the Tsar (''Emperor'') of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 977 to 997, he was a ...

's parents, erected in 992/3. This inscription, which was made by the order of

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the te ...

Samuel, mentions the names of his parents and of his brother

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. Currently, the tombstone is stored at the National Archaeological Museum in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

. In 1916, it was transported there from the village of Agios Germanos, near

Lake Prespa The Lake Prespa is located on the tripoint of North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. It is a system of two lakes separated by an isthmus: the Great Prespa Lake, divided between the three countries, and the Little Prespa Lake, mostly within Greec ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. The dimensions of the tombstone are 125–130 cm high, 52–67 cm wide, and 7–10 cm thick. The inscription has been cited by historians such as

Fyodor Uspensky Fyodor Ivanovich Uspensky or Uspenskij (russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Успе́нский ) was a Russian Empire and Soviet Byzantinist. His works are considered to be among the finest illustrations of the flowering of Byzantine studi ...

Iordan Ivanov Iordan is, most of the time, a Romanian surname, but it is also used as a given name: Surname * Andrei Iordan * Iorgu Iordan * Veaceslav Iordan * Valeriy Iordan Given name * Iordan Chimet See also * Jordan (name) * Iordana River The ...

, and

Nicholas Adontz Nicholas Adontz (, ''Nikoghayos Adonts’'', also spelled Adonts; ; January 10, 1871 – January 27, 1942) was an Armenian historian, specialist of Byzantine and Armenian studies, and philologist. Yuzbashyan, Karen. s.v. Adonts', Nikoghayos ...

Inscription

Original text with reconstructed parts in square brackets and modern-style spaces, capital letters and punctuation (hyphens, commas, two dots and a colon) added: : : : : : : : : : : : The following is the French translation of the inscription by Adontz: "Au nom du Père et du Fils et du Saint-Esprit, moi, Samuel, serviteur de Dieu, je fais mémoire de mon père, de ma mère et de mon frère sur ces croix. Voici les noms des défunts: Nicolas, serviteur de Dieu; Ripsimé et David. Écrit en l'an de la création 6501, indiction VI." In English, translated from the French: "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I, Samuel, servant of God, made a memory of my father, of my mother and of my brother on these crosses. Here are the names of the deceased: Nikolas, servant of God, Ripsimia and David. Written in the year 6501 since Creation, VI

indiction An indiction ( la, indictio, impost) was a periodic reassessment of taxation in the Roman Empire which took place every fifteen years. In Late Antiquity, this 15-year cycle began to be used to date documents and it continued to be used for this p ...

." The year 6501 since the creation of the world corresponds to 992-993 CE."Inscription dates 992-993 and Samuel is simply qualified there as servant of God, without any royal title. This cross-checking proves that in 993 Samuel was not still king, this in agreement with

Asoghik Stepanos Asoghik ( hy, Ստեփանոս Ասողիկ), also known as Stepanos Taronetsi ( hy, Ստեփանոս Տարոնեցի), was an Armenian historian of the 11th century. His dates are unknown but he came from Taron and earned the nickname ...

and Yahya, who put his advent in 997 - 998, after the death of Roman". In: Adontz, Nicolas. Etudes Armeno-Byzantines. Livraria Bertrand. Lisbonne, 1965, Pp. 347-407 (385)

Notes

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Literature

* Успенскiй, Ф. И. ( Uspenskiĭ, Fedor I., 1845-1928) Надпис царя Самуила, Известия Русского Археологического Института в Константинополе,1898, III, с. 184 - 194. * Иванов, Йор. (Ivanov, Ĭor.) Български старини из Македония. София, 1931, с. 25. * Ivanov, Ĭordan (1872-1947). Bŭlgarski starini na Makedoniia, 1970. * Кос, М. (Kos, Milko) О натпису цара Самуила, Гласник српског научног друштва 5, 1929, с. 203 - 209. * Степанос Таронеци-Асохик (Asoghik, Stepanos T., 10th - 11th c.). Всеобщая история Степаноса Таронского - Асохика по прoзванию, писателя ХІ столетия. Перевод с армянскoго и объяснения Н.Эминым. Москва, Типография Лазаревского института восточных языков. 1864. XVIII, 335 стр. * Asoghik (Stepanos de Taron). L'histoire universelle, Paris, 1859. Translation in German, Leipzig, 1907. * Stepanos, Tarōnetsi (Stepanos Asoghik Taronetsi, 10th-11th c.) Tiezerakan patmutyun, Erevan, 2000, Pp. 455 (303 - 304). * Adontz, Nikoghayos. Samuel l'Armenien, Roi des Bulgares. Bruxelles, Palais des academies, 1938, Pp. 63. * Adontz, Nicolas. Etudes Armeno-Byzantines. Livraria Bertrand. Lisbonne, 1965, pp. 347–407 (384). * Lang, David M. The Bulgarians, London, 1976. * Lang, David M. The Armenians. A People in Exile. London, 1981, Pp. 203 (55, 105).

External links

Picture of the actual tombstone
10th century in Bulgaria Medieval Macedonia Old Bulgarian inscriptions Inscriptions in medieval Macedonia