John metropolitan of Amastris (tenth/eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of St. John Prodromos blessing and holding a scroll. Inscription in two columns: |ι̅ω|ο-|δ : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Ἰω(άννης) ὁ Πρ(ό)δ(ρομος). Border of dots.
Obverse
Bust of St. John Prodromos blessing and holding a scroll. Inscription in two columns: |ι̅ω|ο-|δ : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Ἰω(άννης) ὁ Πρ(ό)δ(ρομος). Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, a decoration below. Border of dots.
κ̅ερ,θ,
Ι̅μητ,ο,
πολητι
ταμαστ
αρδου
Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) Ἰω(άννῃ) μητ(ρ)οπολήτι τ(οῦ) Ἀμαστράρδου
Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4812 |
---|---|
Diameter | 24.0 mm; field: 19.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 12.4a. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει Ἰωάννῃ μητροπολήτι τοῦ Ἀμαστράρδου.
Lord, help John, metropolitan of Amastris.
Bibliography
- Byzance et la mer: La marine de guerre, la politique et les institutions maritimes de Byzance aux VIIe–VXe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
- Paphlagonien und Honorias (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
- Selections from a Private Collection of Byzantine Bullae (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This seal and BZS.1955.1.4813 are made from the same boulloterion.
In the second line (reverse), the engraver has mistakenly placed an abbreviation mark after the letter Ο. A second declension, masculine form, Ἄμαστρος, is found as a variant spelling among the Notitiae episcopatuum (see the “Index grec” in Darrouzès’ Notitiae, Ἄμαστρος, s.v.). The engraver may have had this variant in mind and, unfamiliar with third declension endings, created a hybrid, imposing a second declension genitive form on the standard third declension spelling, Ἀμάστριδος. Or perhaps it was just a mistake, a transposition of letters.