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Theophanes imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Thessalonica (ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. No visible border.

ΘΕΟ
ΦΝΗΒ/ΚΟ
ΜΕΡΚ/ΒΥ
ΔΙΚ/ΘΕΣ
ΛΟΝΙΚ

Θεοφάνῃ β(ασιλικῷ) κομερκ(ιαρίῳ) (καὶ) ἀβυδικ(ῷ) Θεσαλονίκ(ης)

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V); in the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. No visible border.

ΘΕΟ
ΦΝΗΒ/ΚΟ
ΜΕΡΚ/ΒΥ
ΔΙΚ/ΘΕΣ
ΛΟΝΙΚ

Θεοφάνῃ β(ασιλικῷ) κομερκ(ιαρίῳ) (καὶ) ἀβυδικ(ῷ) Θεσαλονίκ(ης)

Accession number BZS.1947.2.172
Diameter 28.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 18.9b. See also Zacos-Veglery, no. 2503b; they published a third specimen (no. 2503a), while a similar seal is published by Mordtmann, Ἑλλ. Φιλολ. Συλλ. 17 (1886), Suppl., 146, no. 10.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Θεοφάνῃ βασιλικῷ κομερκιαρίῳ καὶ ἀβυδικῷ Θεσαλονίκης.

Mother of God, help your servant Theophanes imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Thessalonica.

Commentary

This seal closely parallels BZS 1951.31.5.261 but comes from a different boulloterion.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Plombs byzantins de la Grèce et du Péleponnèse (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Silk Trade and Production in Byzantium from the Sixth to the Ninth Century: The Seals of Kommerkiarioi (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Bleisiegel in Berlin (West) (Open in Zotero)
  • Le kommerkion d’Abydos, Thessalonique et le commerce bulgare du 9e siècle (Open in Zotero)
  • Recherches sur les douanes à Byzance: L’octava, le "kommerkion" et les commerciares (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Les plus anciens recueils des miracles de Saint Démétrius et la pénétration des Slaves dans les Balkans (Open in Zotero)
  • L’éparque de Thessalonique: les origines d'une institution administrative (VIIIe-IXe siècles) (Open in Zotero)