Epitaph of Merki Found in Hambukol

The article offers editio princeps of a Greek epitaph discovered during the archaeological work of the Canadian Mission in Hambukol, a locality situated on the right-hand bank of the Nile, several kilometres to the north of Dongola, the capital of the Christian Nubian Kingdom of Makuria. The epitaph, constructed with the prayer ‘God of spirits and all flesh’, is dated to the ninth century on contextual and palaeographic grounds. It commemorates a certain Merki, who, according to the text, followed a splendid career in the state apparatus, which led from notarios to protodomestikos, i.e. the head of the royal office dealing with agriculture and fiscal matters.