John metropolitan of Sardeis (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding the medallion of Christ before her. On one side the inscription visible: : Μ(ήτη)ρ [Θ(εο)ῦ]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, a decoration above. Border of dots.
– +
.κεR,θ,
.σ
ι̅...ο̅π̅οτ,
.αρε
[Θ(εοτό)]κε β(οή)θ(ει) [τ]ῷ σῷ δού(λῳ) Ἰ[ω(άννῃ) μ(ητ)ρ]οπο(λί)τ(ῃ) [Σ]άρδε(ων)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding the medallion of Christ before her. On one side the inscription visible: : Μ(ήτη)ρ [Θ(εο)ῦ]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, a decoration above. Border of dots.
– +
.κεR,θ,
.σ
ι̅...ο̅π̅οτ,
.αρε
[Θ(εοτό)]κε β(οή)θ(ει) [τ]ῷ σῷ δού(λῳ) Ἰ[ω(άννῃ) μ(ητ)ρ]οπο(λί)τ(ῃ) [Σ]άρδε(ων)
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.274 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 27.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 32.6. Laurent (Corpus V/1, no. 367) published a similar seal from the Athens Museum (Konstantopoulos, no. 132) but illustrated the present specimen. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάννῃ μητροπολίτῃ Σάρδεων.
Mother of God, help your servant John, metropolitan of Sardeis.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 3: West, Northwest, and Central Asia Minor and the Orient (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Kleinasiatische Ortsnamen (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine and Turkish Sardis (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
- Les regestes des actes du patriarcat de Constantinople, Vol. 1, Les regestes de 381 à 715 (Open in Zotero)
- Βυζαντιακὰ μολυβδόβουλλα. Ἡ συλλογὴ Ἀναστασίου Κ. Π. Σταμούλη (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
A John of Sardeis is attested in 1071 and 1082 (Grumel, Regestes, nos. 900, 926, 927).
Sardeis (modern Sart), was capital of Lydia and seat of a metropolitan, attested since 325. The non-hellenic name appears on seals as well as in the notitiae in two main forms, the classical Σάρδεις, -εων, and the popular Σάρδη, ἦς, or non-declined Σάρδης (whenever in doubt, we have restored the classical form). From the seals we learn that it was also a fiscal center. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 260-61 (add Zacos, Seals II, nos. 670, 869); Zgusta, 541-42; C. Foss, Byzantine and Turkish Sardis (Cambridge, Mass., 1976); Brandes, Städte, 86-88; ODB III, 1843.