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Nikephoros Ouranos, magistros and "ruler" of the East (999-1110)

 
 

Obverse

The Mother of God holding Christ. Sigla preserved at left: μρ̅ : Μ(ήτη)ρ [Θ(εο)ῦ]. Along the circumference, a circular inscription beginning with a cross at eight o'clock. Border of dots.

+ΘΚΕ....Τ......

Θ(εοτό)κε β[οήθ(ει)] τῷ [σῷ δούλῳ] 

Reverse

Inscription of six lines followed by an ornament. Border of dots.

.....
ΟΡ,ΜΑΓΙΣ
.Ρ,ΤΚΡΑ
...ΝΤΙΤΗΣ
..ΑΤΟΛΗΣ
ṭΟ̅Υ̅Ν̅
  

[Νικηφ]όρ(ῳ) μαγίσ[τ]ρ(ῳ) τῷ κρα[τοῦ]ντι τῆς [Ἀν]ατολῆς τῷ Οὐ(ρα)νῷ

Obverse

The Mother of God holding Christ. Sigla preserved at left: μρ̅ : Μ(ήτη)ρ [Θ(εο)ῦ]. Along the circumference, a circular inscription beginning with a cross at eight o'clock. Border of dots.

+ΘΚΕ....Τ......

Θ(εοτό)κε β[οήθ(ει)] τῷ [σῷ δούλῳ] 

Reverse

Inscription of six lines followed by an ornament. Border of dots.

.....
ΟΡ,ΜΑΓΙΣ
.Ρ,ΤΚΡΑ
...ΝΤΙΤΗΣ
..ΑΤΟΛΗΣ
ṭΟ̅Υ̅Ν̅
  

[Νικηφ]όρ(ῳ) μαγίσ[τ]ρ(ῳ) τῷ κρα[τοῦ]ντι τῆς [Ἀν]ατολῆς τῷ Οὐ(ρα)νῷ

Accession number BZS 1951.31.5.1576
Diameter 26.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 99.11. See also McGeer, "Ouranos," 139.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικηφόρῳ μαγίστρῳ τῷ κρατοῦντι τῆς Ἀνατολῆς τῷ Οὐρανῷ.

Mother of God, help your servant Nikephoros Ouranos, magistros and ruler of the East.

Commentary

This is undoubtedly Basil II's famous general who, after his crushing victory over the Bulgarians at Spercheios, was given the command of Antioch in the year 999 (Guilland, Recherches, 448; McGeer, "Ouranos," 131). As his mandate was to survey the eastern frontier while Basil subjugated Bulgaria, he was not named doux of Antioch but was invested with much broader powers summarized in the non-technical expression "ruler of the East," in other words, the emperor's plenipotentiary in the east.

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Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 3: West, Northwest, and Central Asia Minor and the Orient (Open in Zotero)
  • Tradition and Reality in the Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos (Open in Zotero)
  • Recherches sur les institutions byzantines (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • L’évolution de l’organisation administrative de l’empire byzantin au XIe siècle (1025–1118) (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Molivdovuly grečeskogo Vostoka (Open in Zotero)
  • Les sceaux byzantins de la Collection Henri Seyrig (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
  • Sowing the Dragon’s Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century (Open in Zotero)