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Nicholas Areobindenos, spatharokandidatos and protonotarios of Chaldia (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. Nicholas blessing with his right hand and holding a book in his left hand. Vertical inscription on either side: |ν|ι-κ|ο|λ, : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Νικόλ(αος). Circular inscription within a border of dots:

+κε........σδλ,

Κ(ύρι)ε [βοήθει τῷ] σῷ δούλ(ῳ)

Reverse

Inscription of six lines, a decoration above. Border of dots.


+νικολ
σπαθαρο
κ,,Sα̅νο
τ,χαλδˋα
τωαρεο
R,δην,

Νικολ(άῳ) σπαθαροκ(αν)δ(ι)δ(άτῳ) (καὶ) (πρωτο)νοτ(αρίῳ) Χαλδ(ί)α(ς) τῷ Ἀρεοβ(ιν)δην(ῷ)

Obverse

Bust of St. Nicholas blessing with his right hand and holding a book in his left hand. Vertical inscription on either side: |ν|ι-κ|ο|λ, : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Νικόλ(αος). Circular inscription within a border of dots:

+κε........σδλ,

Κ(ύρι)ε [βοήθει τῷ] σῷ δούλ(ῳ)

Reverse

Inscription of six lines, a decoration above. Border of dots.


+νικολ
σπαθαρο
κ,,Sα̅νο
τ,χαλδˋα
τωαρεο
R,δην,

Νικολ(άῳ) σπαθαροκ(αν)δ(ι)δ(άτῳ) (καὶ) (πρωτο)νοτ(αρίῳ) Χαλδ(ί)α(ς) τῷ Ἀρεοβ(ιν)δην(ῷ)

Accession number BZS.1958.106.1073
Diameter 25.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 32.35a. A similar seal, seemingly from a different boulloterion, is published in Sig., 290, no. 3.

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικολάῳ σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ καὶ πρωτονοταρίῳ Χαλδίας τῷ Ἀρεοβινδηνῷ.

Lord, help your servant Nicholas Areobindenos, spatharokandidatos and protonotarios of Chaldia.

Commentary

This seal, BZS.1951.31.5.1426, and BZS.1955.1.2934 (both linked to this entry) all come from the same boulloterion. Schlumberger read the family name as Aravandinos. Bryer suggested that this may be the correct form of the name, postulating that it is the same as the family names of the Arbantenoi or Arabantinoi (Bryer-Winfield, Pontos, 317 and note 30). But the reading of our seals is secure, and the name Areobindenos, indicating someone originating from the quarter ton Areobindou in Constantinople, is attested on other seals (Laurent, Corpus II, no. 396). See also BZS.1951.31.5.3159.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • Βυζαντιακὰ μολυβδόβουλλα. Ἡ συλλογὴ Ἀναστασίου Κ. Π. Σταμούλη (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • The Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos (Open in Zotero)
  • De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
  • Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (Open in Zotero)
  • Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)