Niketas metropolitan of Ankyra (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of St. Clement blessing and holding the book. Inscription in two columns: |κλ... : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Κλ[ήμη(ς)]. Border of dots.
Obverse
Bust of St. Clement blessing and holding the book. Inscription in two columns: |κλ... : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Κλ[ήμη(ς)]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, top lines missing; a decoration below. Border of dots.
Rοηθ,
νικητα
μ̅ρ̅οπολ
ανκυ.
[Κ(ύρι)ε] βοήθ(ει) Νικήτᾳ μ(ητ)ροπολ(ίτῃ) Ἀνκύ[ρ(ας)]
Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1289 |
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Diameter | 23.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 2.1. See also Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 341 (with a different reading of the obverse inscription). |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει Νικήτᾳ μητροπολίτῃ Ἀνκύρας.
Lord, help Niketas, metropolitan of Ankyra.
Bibliography
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
- Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
- Galatien und Lykaonien (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Laurent read the first three letters of the obverse inscription: |Rα, identifying the bishop-saint as Basil. He also dated the seal to the second half of the eleventh century assigned it to a metropolitan Niketas who occupied the throne at least as early as 1072 and was still active in the 1080’s (Laurent, Corpus V/1, 242). We are less certain and note that the specimen could as well have been issued in the name of a Niketas who succeeded metropolitan Michael in 1038 (ibid.). Laurent was also inclined to associate the Niketas of our specimen with a Niketas who struck a seal carrying an image of the Virgin on the obverse and a metrical inscription on the reverse which reads as follows: τὸν Ἀγκύρας, Πάναγνε, Νικήταν σ(κέ)ποις.