The bishop of Kitros (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
The Virgin standing facing left, with hands upraised toward Hand of God in upper field. Sigla: Μ̅ΘΥ̅: Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Obverse
The Virgin standing facing left, with hands upraised toward Hand of God in upper field. Sigla: Μ̅ΘΥ̅: Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
ΤΟΝΤΟΥ
ΚΙΤΡΠΑ
ΝΑΓΝΕΠΟΙ
ΜΕΝΑΣΚΕ
ΠΟΙΣ
Τὸν τοῦ Κίτρου, Πάναγνε, ποιμένα σκέποις
Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.2519 |
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Diameter | 22.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 24.1b. |
Translation
Τὸν τοῦ Κίτρου, Πάναγνε, ποιμένα σκέποις.
All-holy One, may you protect the bishop of Kitros.
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)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This specimen seems to come from the same boulloterion as BZS.1958.106.5071.
The reverse inscription is a twelve-syllable verse.
Modern Kitros is southwest of Thessalonica. The see was in existence at least by the late ninth century; a bishop Germanos is known to have attended the council of 879 (DHGE 12 [1953] col. 998). It is regularly mentioned in episcopal lists up to the Fourth Crusade (cf. Laurent, Corpus V/1, 341).