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The arms factory (fabrica) of Seleukeia (seventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Mother of God between two crosses, with the medallion of Christ before her (Christ has a nimbus cruciger). Wreath border.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.

ΤΗΣΦ
ΒΡΙΚΟ
.ΣΕΛΕΥ
.ΕΙΣ

Τῆς φάβρικο[ς] Σελευ[κ]είας.

Obverse

Bust of the Mother of God between two crosses, with the medallion of Christ before her (Christ has a nimbus cruciger). Wreath border.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.

ΤΗΣΦ
ΒΡΙΚΟ
.ΣΕΛΕΥ
.ΕΙΣ

Τῆς φάβρικο[ς] Σελευ[κ]είας.

Accession number BZS 1958.106.4322
Diameter 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 6.6; Zacos-Veglery, no. 1136.

Translation

Τῆς φάβρικος Σελευκείας.

(Seal of) the arms factory of Seleukeia.

Commentary

The word φάβριξ, from Latin, fabrica, is well attested in the meaning of "arms factory"; see H. Hofmann, Die lateinischen Wörter im Griechischen bis 600 n. Chr., pp. 450–51. The depiction of the Mother of God with the medallion before her points to a date no later than the first half of the seventh century, and so it is tempting to connect the existence of an arms factory with the temporary establishment of an imperial mint in Seleukeia in 615/16, at a time when the emperor Herakleios was compelled to relocate his military forces and administration in reaction to the Persian invasions. See Hendy, Monetary Economy, pp. 416 and 633.

The depiction of the Mother of God on a seal of an arms factory also suggests that the seal was struck in a period when the protection of the empire was increasingly linked with her intercession. The growth of the cult of the Mother of God is particularly evident during the reign of Herakleios (610-641); for a study of her emergence in the role of protectress, see A. Cameron, "The Theotokos in Sixth-Century Constantinople. A City Finds its Symbol."

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy, c. 300–1450 (Open in Zotero)
  • The Theotokos in Sixth-Century Constantinople: A City Finds Its Symbol (Open in Zotero)
  • Die lateinischen Wörter im Griechischen bis 600 n. Chr. (Open in Zotero)