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Jacob imperial spatharios and xenodochos of Nikomedeia (ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). In the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Border of dots.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.

+ΙΚ
ΣΠΘ
ΞΕΝΟΔΟ
ΧΝΙΚΟΜ

Ἰακώβῳ β(ασιλικῷ) σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) ξενοδόχ(ῳ) Νικομ(ηδείας)

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). In the quarters: ΤΣ|ΔΛ. Border of dots.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.

+ΙΚ
ΣΠΘ
ΞΕΝΟΔΟ
ΧΝΙΚΟΜ

Ἰακώβῳ β(ασιλικῷ) σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) ξενοδόχ(ῳ) Νικομ(ηδείας)

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.493
Diameter 29.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 77.5. See also Zacos-Veglery, no. 1995, and Laurent, "Sceaux byzantins inedits," p. 41-42.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰακώβῳ βασιλικῷ σπαθαρίῳ καὶ ξενοδόχῳ Νικομηδείας.

Mother of God, help your servant Jacob, imperial spatharios and xenodochos of Nikomedeia.

Commentary

The xenodochos (hospice administrator) of Nikomedeia is also attested in the treatise of Philotheos as a subordinate to the grand kourator: Listes, 123, line 19.

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)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Sceaux byzantins inédits (Open in Zotero)
  • Le livre du préfet; ou, L’édit de l’empereur Léon le Sage sur les corporations de Constantinople (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)