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Constantine (metropolitan) of Mytilene (twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

St. Theodora standing, holding a martyr's cross in her right hand, with her left hand open before her. On either side a vertical inscription: Η|Ο|Σ|Ι|ΑΘΕ|Ο|ΡΑ|Δ|: ἡ ὁσία Θεοδώρα. Note that the rho and alpha were placed on either side of the vertical inscription to form the shape of a cross. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, a cross above and and two eight-rayed stars below. Border of dots.


ΚΝΝ
ΤΙΝΣΦΡ
ΓΙΣΤ
ΤΥΛΙΝΗΣ

Κωνσταντίνου σφράγισμα τοῦ Μητυλίνης

Obverse

St. Theodora standing, holding a martyr's cross in her right hand, with her left hand open before her. On either side a vertical inscription: Η|Ο|Σ|Ι|ΑΘΕ|Ο|ΡΑ|Δ|: ἡ ὁσία Θεοδώρα. Note that the rho and alpha were placed on either side of the vertical inscription to form the shape of a cross. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, a cross above and and two eight-rayed stars below. Border of dots.


ΚΝΝ
ΤΙΝΣΦΡ
ΓΙΣΤ
ΤΥΛΙΝΗΣ

Κωνσταντίνου σφράγισμα τοῦ Μητυλίνης

Accession number BZS 1958.106.12
Diameter 35.0 mm; field: 28.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 51.7; Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 755. Cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 1231.

Translation

Κωνσταντίνου σφράγισμα τοῦ Μητυλίνης.

Seal of Constantine (metropolitan) of Mytilene.

Commentary

Dodecasyllabic inscription. Laurent is probably correct in saying that the siant represented must be the Alexandrine Theodora, martyred under Diocletian, because she is carrying a martyr's cross. The metropolis of Mytilene was dedicated to St. Theodora (AnalBoll 18 [1899] 226), and for that reason this saint appears on several metropolitans' seals.

Bibliography

  • 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)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Alexiade: Règne de l’empereur Alexis I Comnène, 1081–1118 (Open in Zotero)
  • Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
  • Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)