George dioiketes of Sarde (ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). In the quarters: τ-σ|δ-λ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
γερ
.ιιοκ
ητησρ
ισ
Γεωρ[γ]ίῳ διοικητῇ Σάρδις
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). In the quarters: τ-σ|δ-λ. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
γερ
.ιιοκ
ητησρ
ισ
Γεωρ[γ]ίῳ διοικητῇ Σάρδις
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.3694 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 28.0 mm; field: 21.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 32.3a. Zacos-Veglery, no. 1918. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Γεωργίῳ διοικητῇ Σάρδις.
Mother of God, help your servant George, dioiketes of Sarde.
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
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin, vol. 5, L’Église
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 2
- Kleinasiatische Ortsnamen
- Byzantine and Turkish Sardis
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert
- The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 1
Commentary
This seal and BZS.1958.106.2318 come from the same boulloterion.
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.