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Leo (metropolitan) of Kamachos (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin orans with a medallion of Christ. Sigla: ..-θ̅υ : [Μ(ήτη)ρ] Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

+τον
καμαχ
λεοντα
παρθεν
...επ

Τὸν Καμάχ[ου] Λέοντα, Παρθέν[ε, σκ]έπ(οις).

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin orans with a medallion of Christ. Sigla: ..-θ̅υ : [Μ(ήτη)ρ] Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

+τον
καμαχ
λεοντα
παρθεν
...επ

Τὸν Καμάχ[ου] Λέοντα, Παρθέν[ε, σκ]έπ(οις).

Accession number BZS.1947.2.1034
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 65.3.

Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 750 (listed as Shaw Coll., no. 1130).

Translation

Τὸν Καμάχου Λέοντα, Παρθένε, σκέποις.

Virgin, may you watch over Leo of Kamachos.

Commentary

Twelve-syllable verse. Chronologically, it could have belonged to the same owner as BZS.1947.2.1030, although this seal does not mention any special name for the Virgin represented here.

Kamachos (also Kamacha, the modern Kemah) is located to the southwest of Erzincan on the south bank of the Euphrates. It became a metropolis after 911 with the establishment of the theme of Mesopotamia (Laurent, Corpus V/1, 571). See also Sinclair II, 415 ff.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey (Open in Zotero)