A Greek inscription mentions athe city of Tephrice or '''''[[Tephrike]]''''' ({{lang-el|{{polytonic|Τεφρική}}}}): "I, Kurines, Comes of the comandant of the city Tephrice came to the castelles and went back to the fort of the Great Martyrs(?)." Even though the content and meaning is not completely clear, the city Tephrice is clear. The town was destroyed in 873. It was on a line between today's Sivas and Malatya in Turkey/Armenia. Beermann's conclusion therefore is (p. 581) that the codex must be older than 873 CE. Beermann speculates that the "fort of the [[Great Martyr]]s" (if correctly deciphered) might have been Martyropolis, a town near the Wan Lake, near today's Batman in Turkey.
