Byzantine Imported Underglaze Monograms in Mediaeval Sougdaia

First time in the scholarship, this paper has analysed Byzantine imported monograms from mediaeval Sougdaia, which appeared on glazed vessels of the Elaborate Incised Ware produced in Constantinople or its environs. With the mediation of Genoese traders, a small number of this pottery was delivered to the markets of the cities in the Crimean peninsula, Sougdaia in particular. So far, many-year-long archaeological excavations discovered seven monograms of the kind, which belonged to three widely known Byzantine types. It should be mentioned that, as it has already been stated in the scholarship, the monograms with the name Michael predominate, though the other types are very few in number. Two typologically similar signs more, showing a double cross with diamond-shaped rays, are traditionally interpreted not as monograms but as ornamental elements typical of the war in question. Using the analysis of analogies and similar images, an attempt has been made to analyse and interpret this sign. All the finds under study originate from four archaeological contexts of mediaeval Sougdaia. Three of them possess a reliable dating to the third quarter of the fourteenth century, and the fourth specimen existed from the mid-fourteenth century to 1475.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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