Written by Mirnes Hasanspahić. Translation Petrit Latifi

Illyrian script on a Stećak from Jelaška, destroyed by the Catholic Church due to the alleged expansion of the cemetery. It is engraved with Illyrian script.

“Previously known inscriptions on stećaks from the area around Olovo”

In this text, we present four stećaks with inscriptions that were known from before. We recall them and analyze their current state.

In addition to these four monuments, we managed to find two more tombstones with short and unfinished inscriptions, but we will write about them in the next article.

The stećaks with inscriptions that were already known are: one stećak with an inscription at the necropolis in Lavšići (Lišci), one in Kamensk and two stećaks in Jelaški.

Stećci with an inscription from Jelasak

The settlement of Jelaška is located in the northern part of Olovo municipality, about thirty kilometers from Olovo, and 3-4 km from the Olovo-Zavidovići road. The settlement consists of hamlets: Šarići, Mujezinovići and Stojčići. In the area of ​​Jelašak, there are two necropolises of medieval stećak tombstones and one solitary example (the solitary gabled example was moved from its original location and is now located in front of the church in Stojčići).

Two stećaks in the form of a small column on the ridge, one in whole, and the other in two parts, which have inscriptions on them, were found in the necropolis, which is next to the Catholic cemetery, about 500 m northeast of the village (Bešlagić 1964. 142-143; Vego 1981. 39-64; Bešlagić 1971. 229; AL 1988. 73).

The stećak, which was in its entirety, has not been preserved or is not visible today. Considering that in this location there are many stećaks that are only slightly visible above the surface, which may have been in the form of a stele or column, and once fell or were knocked down, so the inscription may have ended up on the lower side.

The second stećak, which was made of two parts, one part may have the same fate as the previous stećak, and the other part of the stećak was preserved thanks to its relocation. It was moved in the eighties of the last century and is now located in front of the Catholic church in Stojčići. It was saved from complete disappearance, but was exposed to precipitation all the time.

The inscription is made with very thin and shallow lines. Constantly exposed to precipitation, it is now even shallower and hard to read. As the simplest and cheapest measure of protection, it is necessary to move it indoors.

We will write about stećci from Jelašak in more detail in some of the following articles. And without an archaeological hoe, we won’t know much. The “preserved” part of the stećak in Jelaške. This monument is not preserved.

Stećak with an inscription in Kamensk

The village of Kamensko is located in the northern part of Olovo municipality, about thirty kilometers from Olovo, and 3-4 km from the Olovo-Zavidovići road. The settlement consists of the following hamlets: Gradina, Borik, Šumerac, Miljevići, Selišta, Podbrijeg, Vrh and Magulica. The stećak necropolis is located near the hamlet of Gradina. There are 31 stećaks (28 gables and 2 chests) in the necropolis. 16 stećaks were decorated. To the west of this necropolis there is another Rudina necropolis, with 16 stećaks, which was previously unknown in the literature.

The gable with the inscription was placed on a prominent spot on the hill where the necropolis is located. The stećak is decorated and has an inscription on the south side of the roof. The inscription was read by Bešlagić and Vego (Bešlagić 1964. 142.143; Bešlagić 1971. 230; Vego 1981.49)

The transcription of the inscription reads:

• THE SON OF MILAŠA IS LYING ON ‘MILOŠ’ AND THE GRANDSON OF BOŽIHNIN’

On the west side of the front, there is an interesting representation of a human female figure.

Stećak with an inscription in Lavšići (Lišci)

Lavšići is located next to the older settlement of Liške, about 6 km south of Olov. In the center of the village there is a necropolis on the Mramorje hill with 46 monuments. An article about this inscription was published by Marko Vego in 1981 in the magazine Naše starine, under the title Inscription from Berisalić (Vego M. 1981.48). To avoid confusion, Berisalići is a neighboring settlement of Lavšići, so we do not know why the author made this mistake.

The transcription of the inscription as read by Vego reads:

“A SE LEŽI DABIŽIV’ NA SVO[JOJ] ZEMLJI NA PEMENITOJ, A NE UMR’ (UMR’) SI VSE!”

Before this article was published in the aforementioned magazine, the author Kerić Dimitrije drew attention to this stećak in his thesis in manuscript form, reading part of the inscription “…that there lies some Živojin on his noble land” (Kerić D. 1975.25).

This site was declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2008 as the Historical Area – Necropolis with Stećak Tombstones “Mramorje” and Old Nišan Tombstones in Lavšići (Decision No.: 02-02-228/07-9. 5.11.2008.). A small cemetery with three smaller tombstones and three burial sites (mezarja) has been included in the protected historical area, and is located west of the necropolis at a distance of up to 50 m.

There are two more locations near the necropolis with old Muslim tombstones, which are not included in the protected historical area. In the meadow north of the stećaks, several more Muslim tombstones without nišan are noticeable, surrounded by a sunken stone wall. Also, west of the stećaks, at a slightly greater distance of about 300 m as the crow flies, there are 4 massive nišan tombstones (two nišan tombstones are in the shape of a turban, two columns with a square base with a pyramidal ending with an apple/ball on top). Lavšići inscription You can see more photos here.

Literature

”Archaeological Lexicon of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, 1988. Volume 3. Sarajevo: National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bešlagić Š. 1964. ”Newly discovered inscriptions on stećaks”. Our Antiquities, IX. Sarajevo: Yearbook of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Natural Landmarks and Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 133-144.

Bešlagić Š. 1971. “Stećci – a catalog-topographic overview”. Sarajevo: Library “Cultural Heritage”. “Veselin Masleša”.

Kerić R. D. 1975. “Motifs on stećci as sources of physical culture development in the Middle Ages in the territory of the Olovo municipality”. (Manuscript of the diploma thesis). Sarajevo: Faculty of Physical Culture, University of Sarajevo.

Vego M. 1981. “New and revised medieval inscriptions from Bosnia”. Our antiquities XIV-XV. Sarajevo: Yearbook of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Natural Landmarks and Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 39-64.

Decision on the Historical Area – Necropolis with stećci “Mramorje” and old nišan tombstones in Lavšići, Number: 02-02-228/07-9, 5.11.2008. Available at: http://old.kons.gov.ba/main.php?id_struct=6&lang=1&action=view&id=3055

Written by: Mirnes Hasanspahić