Historic slab from Akkerman fortress turned out to be a sundial

The slab that the rector of the South Ukrainian Pedagogical University, Andrii Krasnozhon, found on the wall of the Belgorod-Dnistrovsky fortress in Odesa region in 2022 turned out to be a sundial.

According to Andrii Krasnozhon, it was previously believed to be an anepigraphic marble mortgage building slab.

However, research over the past three years has shown that it is a public city Islamic sundial located on the facade of one of the most famous towers - in the historical period it had the corresponding Ottoman name Saati kulesi (Clock Tower).

According to the scientist, the clock existed from 1480 to 1796 and probably appeared on the initiative of Sultan Bayezid II. The functions of the clock included fixing religious time to synchronize the work of city mosques during the proclamation of azans of the main daytime prayer Zuhr and the pre-dawn asr.

"This is one of the oldest such devices preserved on the territory of the former Ottoman Empire, and certainly unique for modern Ukraine. This discovery once again proves the outstanding cultural significance of the fortification monument, which is a carrier of unique architectural elements," the historian noted.

The historian also noted that the discovery was not obvious, as it required reaching the slab to a height of 6.5 meters and finding the remains of the gnomon fasteners during a detailed examination from scaffolding.

"Due to technical difficulties and lack of research motivation, no one was doing this. Even I found time to deal directly with this slab only in the 16th year of research of the fortress," he emphasized.

In June 2024, Odesa historians reported that they had found the last of the six epigraphic monuments (foundation slabs) lost in 1941, which were taken from the Odesa Archaeological Museum's collections by the Romanian trophy commission to the city of Iasi.

In November 2022, Moldova announced its readiness to help evacuate from Kherson the foundation slabs of the Belhorod-Dnistrovskyi fortress from the reign of Stefan cel Mare in Odesa region.

And in May, a Turkish mortgage plate was restored and installed, which testifies to the repair of the southwestern tower of the citadel of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi fortress in the seventeenth century.

Кирило Бойко