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N. strategos of the Anatolikoi (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of a saint with a short and round beard, long hair falling straight back in an oriental fashion, and remnants of an elaborate garment. Traces of a vertical inscription: Φ|ΟΡ|ΟΣ; perhaps St. Elpidiphoros. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.

ΤΟΣ
ΡΑΤΙ.
.ΝΑΝΑ
ΚΝ

.... [πρω]τοσ[παθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) στ]ρατι[γῷ τῶ]ν Ἀνα[τολι]κῶν

Obverse

Bust of a saint with a short and round beard, long hair falling straight back in an oriental fashion, and remnants of an elaborate garment. Traces of a vertical inscription: Φ|ΟΡ|ΟΣ; perhaps St. Elpidiphoros. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.

ΤΟΣ
ΡΑΤΙ.
.ΝΑΝΑ
ΚΝ

.... [πρω]τοσ[παθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) στ]ρατι[γῷ τῶ]ν Ἀνα[τολι]κῶν

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.895
Diameter 18.0 mm
Condition Blank too small for die.
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 86.62.

Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore.

Translation

....πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατιγῷ τῶν Ἀνατολικῶν.

N. protospatharios and strategos of the Anatolikoi.

Commentary

Three possibilities fit the lettering in the saint's name: Χριστοφόρος, Ἐλπιδιφόρος, and Ὀνησίφορος. Taking into consideration his oriental appearance, we venture to identify him as St. Elpidiphoros, a Persian "senator" who converted to Christianity and was martyred under Sapor (Syn. Eccl. CP, 189, line 2).

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)
  • Documents de sigillographie byzantine: La collection C. Orghidan (Open in Zotero)
  • Sceaux byzantins du Musée National de Varsovie (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)