The body of almost every Roman or Byzantine emperor has been lost. This piece draws attention to two skeletons, recovered from a Muslim türbe at Trabzon during World War I by the Russian excavator Feodor Uspensky. Using local oral tradition, Uspensky identified the two bodies he recovered as the Byzantine emperor of Trebizond Alexios IV (1417-1429) and a local Turkish hero Hoşoğlan. Since Uspensky, his identifications have not been challenged nor scientifically examined. This paper argues that Uspensky did not recover just one but two imperial skeletons. It first dissects his identifications, showing how competition for sacred space between Greeks and Turks in the Ottoman period led each community to identify the tomb’s occupants with foundational figures in their communities. After dissecting Uspensky’s identifications, this paper then makes the case that both occupants of this tomb were unidentified members of the Grand Komnenoi family, urging for scientific examination of what may be the only bones of a Byzantine emperor.

中文翻译：

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一个关于两个骨骼的故事？

几乎每个罗马或拜占庭皇帝的遗体都丢失了。这件作品引起人们的注意，这是两具骨骼，它们是第一次世界大战期间由俄罗斯挖掘机Feodor Uspensky从特拉布宗的穆斯林土尔伯人那里回收的。乌斯别斯基利用当地的口头传统，确定了他作为特雷比松·阿列克西奥斯四世（1417-1429）的拜占庭皇帝和当地的土耳其英雄霍索兰发现的两具尸体。自乌斯别斯基（Uspensky）以来，他的身份从未受到质疑或科学检验。本文认为，乌斯别斯基不仅能恢复一个帝国骨架，而且还能恢复两个帝国骨架。它首先剖析了他的身份，显示了奥斯曼帝国时期希腊人和土耳其人之间在神圣空间中的竞争如何导致每个社区用其社区中的基本人物来识别该墓的居民。剖析了Uspensky的身份之后，