MAMA XI 338 (Perta) 
Funerary stele of Kyros of Brasoukome
- Type of monument:
- Funerary stele.
- Location:
- Giymir (Perta): in the wall of an oven.
- Description:
- Small white marble stele, broken below.
- Dimensions:
- Ht. 0.28+; W. 0.24; Th. 0.17; letters 0.018-0.032.
- Record:
- Squeeze; line drawing; MB notebook copy; photograph (1956/180).
- Publication:
- None.
- Date:
- Fourth to sixth century AD.
†
Κῦρος
Βρασου-
κώμης
Kyros of Brasoukome.
Illustrations:
MAMA XI 338 (Perta 33: 1956-180)
Squeeze of MAMA XI 338 (Perta 33: 1956-180)
Line drawing of MAMA XI 338 (Perta 33: 1956-180)
The village of Brasoukome does not seem to be attested elsewhere. The form of the name is unusual; it is conceivable that the village took its name from an Armenian by the name of Varaz, Varazes, Varzanes vel sim. The name Varaz (‘wild boar’ in Middle Persian/Pahlavi) is well-attested in Armenia in Late Antiquity; four individuals bearing the name (and another three with compound names derived from it) are attested in the fourth century AD (Garsoïan 1989: 422-4). Two commanders in the sixth-century Byzantine army carried the name Varazes (PLRE IIIB 1362-3). Our 'Varazes' could well have been an Armenian soldier, recruited from Persarmenia in the fifth or sixth century, and rewarded with lands deep inside the Empire. (I am grateful to Dr Tim Greenwood for advice on this text.)