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George apo hypaton and general kommerkiarios of the apotheke of First or Fourth Armenia (695/6)

 
 

Obverse

Emperor Leontios standing frontally, with a short beard, holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. Indiction signs on either side: θ᾽. Partial remains of a circular inscription, beginning at right. No border visible.

..εωργιου-απ......

Γεωργίου ἀπὸ ὑπάτων

Reverse

Inscription of six lines. No visible border.

γ.νι
.ουκ.μμ.
ρκιαριου.
ποθηκη.
̅.αρμε
νιασ

καὶ γενικοῦ κομμερκιαρίου ποθήκης αˊ (or δˊ) Ἀρμενίας

Obverse

Emperor Leontios standing frontally, with a short beard, holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. Indiction signs on either side: θ᾽. Partial remains of a circular inscription, beginning at right. No border visible.

..εωργιου-απ......

Γεωργίου ἀπὸ ὑπάτων

Reverse

Inscription of six lines. No visible border.

γ.νι
.ουκ.μμ.
ρκιαριου.
ποθηκη.
̅.αρμε
νιασ

καὶ γενικοῦ κομμερκιαρίου ποθήκης αˊ (or δˊ) Ἀρμενίας

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4371
Diameter 32.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 74.1.
Zacos-Veglery, no. 191.

Translation

Ἰνδικτιὼν Θˊ.     Γεωργίου ἀπὸ ὑπάτων καὶ γενικοῦ κομμερκιαρίου ἀποθήκης αˊ or δˊ Ἀρμενίας.

Indiction 9.     (Seal of) George apo hypaton and general kommerkiarios of the apotheke of First or Fourth Armenia.

Commentary

The pointed top of the first letter of the fifth line on the reverse must indicate an Α or a Δ. The date of the present seal is secure, as in the two following ninth indictions two emperors were on the throne, Justinian I with Tiberios (710/711) and Leo III with Constantine V (725/726). George apo hypaton was active during all the first reign of Justinian II, and seems to have fallen with that emperor (Zacos-Veglery I, 152-154, table 8; cf. Oikonomides, Kommerkiarioi, 41; Seibt-Zarnitz, nos. 1.3.4 and 1.3.6).

The term Armenia is used to designate the Roman provinces of that name.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Silk Trade and Production in Byzantium from the Sixth to the Ninth Century: The Seals of Kommerkiarioi (Open in Zotero)
  • Das byzantinische Bleisiegel als Kunstwerk: Katalog zur Ausstellung (Open in Zotero)