Greek Language and Its Place in the Varied Environment of Murfatlar: Seven Decades of Epigraphic Research (1957–2025)

The lecture aims to present in brief the Greek textual graffiti at the medieval rock-cut complex at Murfatlar after the last scientific expedition of 2025, and discuss their “place”, both in the physical (within the buildings) and cultural sense (among the other scripts and languages used there). The medieval complex at Murfatlar, known to scholars since 1957, is renowned for the pictorial graffiti and the great number of Cyrillic and rune-like inscriptions. Along with them, the walls of the site reveal some less studied and sometimes even neglected textual graffiti in Glagolitic and Greek, which are by no means of lesser importance. The Greek textual graffiti include inscriptions, monograms (either as parts of a larger text or as individual symbols), ligatures, as well as groups of characters such as Christograms and Staurograms. Their spatial distribution within the complex is not equal, something that might be explained by the relation of the scribes to the complex, the construction history of the monument, and/or the date of each structure. Interestingly, despite their small number compared to Cyrillic and rune-like, the Greek graffiti are mostly encountered in “strategic” places, a sign of their significance to both the scribes and the viewers. Last but not least, Greek inscriptions are of crucial importance for the study of scripts and writing in Murfatlar, because they reveal details about the scribes’ hands, their cultural background, and, subsequently, the date and interpretation.