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The church of Antioch (ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of two lines. Thick linear border.

ΑΓ
ΕΚΚΛ

Ἁγ(ίας) ἐκκλ(ησίας)

Reverse

Inscription of two lines followed by a row of pellets. Thick linear border.

ΘΕ
ΠΟΛΕ
.. 

Θεουπόλε(ως)

Obverse

Inscription of two lines. Thick linear border.

ΑΓ
ΕΚΚΛ

Ἁγ(ίας) ἐκκλ(ησίας)

Reverse

Inscription of two lines followed by a row of pellets. Thick linear border.

ΘΕ
ΠΟΛΕ
.. 

Θεουπόλε(ως)

Accession number BZS 1951.31.5.1987
Diameter 25.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 9.17; Laurent, Corpus 5.2: no. 1514 (dated to the ninth/tenth centuries). Parallel specimens in Sig., 315, nos. 6 and 7.

Translation

Ἁγίας ἐκκλησίας Θεουπόλεως.

(Seal of) the holy church of Theoupolis (= Antioch).

Commentary

The seal "of the church of Antioch" is one of several bearing this type of anonymous inscription (see also BZS.1947.2.187, BZS.1958.106.182, and BZS.1955.1.5052). In addition to these, see Oikonomides, "The Anonymous Seal," one "of the holy church of Emesa" (J. W. Nesbitt, "Byzantine Lead Seals from the Vicinity of the Governor's Palace and Warehouse," 2, no. 10), and "of the church of Theoupolis" (Cheynet, Sceaux byzantins, no. 62). Oikonomides suggested that such seals were issued when the metropolitan was absent from his see or when the episcopal throne was vacant.

BZS.1955.1.5052 reads, on the obverse, "holy churches," indicated by double lambdas. The editors of DO Seals 5 note that this reading for the present specimen is not out of the question.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • The Anonymous Seal (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals from the Vicinity of the Governor’s Palace and Warehouses (CC and KK) (Open in Zotero)
  • Sceaux byzantins des Musées d’Antioche et de Tarse (Open in Zotero)