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Theodore archbishop of Cyprus (seventh/eighth century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of a bearded saint holding a book decorated with a cross. Wreath border.

Reverse

Cruciform monogram, reading Θεοδώρου ἀρχιεπισκόπου; in the quarters, Κ.|. Indeterminate border.

Θεοδώρου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κύπρου

Obverse

Bust of a bearded saint holding a book decorated with a cross. Wreath border.

Reverse

Cruciform monogram, reading Θεοδώρου ἀρχιεπισκόπου; in the quarters, Κ.|. Indeterminate border.

Θεοδώρου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κύπρου

Accession number BZS.1955.1.613
Diameter 25.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2 no. 38.15.
Cf. similar specimen in Athens (Konstantopoulos, no. 166α = Laurent, Corpus V/2, 1482). Laurent notes two more bullae of a similar design in the Seyrig collection; would this be Seyrig, nos. 242 and 243?

Translation

Θεοδώρου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κύπρου.

(Seal of) Theodore archbishop of Cyprus.

Commentary

Laurent identified the figure depicted as Saint Barnabas. The design and technique of execution of this seal is very close to DO Seals 2, no. 38.12. This seal may represent one and the same person as DO Seals 2, no. 38.16; but in this early period, the succession of the archbishops is confused, and we realize that the chronicle of Machairas (but no the Synodikon, nor Boustronios) mentions two Theodores at about that time (V. Laurent, "Les fastes épiscopaux de l'Église de Chypre," REB 6 [1948] 155, 160).

Bibliography

  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
  • Les sceaux byzantins de la Collection Henri Seyrig (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantium and Islam in Cyprus in the Early Middle Ages (Open in Zotero)
  • The Nature of the Arab-Byzantine Relations in Cyprus from the Middle of the 7th to the Middle of the 10th Century A.D. (Open in Zotero)
  • The Church of Cyprus during the Period of the Arab Wars, 649-965 (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Synodikon de l’orthodoxie: Édition et commentaire (Open in Zotero)
  • Ἡ Κύπρος καὶ οἱ Ἄραβες (Open in Zotero)
  • Σημειώσεις Ἀναφερόμεναι Εἰς Τῆν Ἱστορίαν Τῆς Βυζαντινῆς Κύπρου (Open in Zotero)
  • Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata (Open in Zotero)