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Theodore archbishop of Cyprus (seventh/eighth century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of a bearded saint blessing and holding the book. On the right, a cross. Wreath border.

Reverse

Within a circle of dots, a cruciform monogram (type V). Between two borders, a circular inscription beginning with a cross.

ΘΕΔΡΑΡΧΙΕ............Υ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεωδώρῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Κύπρου

Obverse

Bust of a bearded saint blessing and holding the book. On the right, a cross. Wreath border.

Reverse

Within a circle of dots, a cruciform monogram (type V). Between two borders, a circular inscription beginning with a cross.

ΘΕΔΡΑΡΧΙΕ............Υ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεωδώρῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Κύπρου

Accession number BZS.1958.106.57
Diameter 26.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 38.16.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεωδώρῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Κύπρου.

Mother of God, help Theodore archbishop of Cyprus.

Commentary

The design and technique of execution of this seals is very close to DO Seals 2, no. 36.8 and 36.11. This places it chronologically very close to DO Seals 2, no. 38.15 (BZS 1955.1.613) and suggests that we might have here one and the same person; but in this early period, the succession of the archbishops is confused, and we realize that the chronicle of Machairas (but neither the Synodikon nor Boustronios) mentions two Theodores at about that time (V. Laurent, "Les fastes épiscopaux de l'Église de Chypre," REB 6 [1948] 155, 160).

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)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Les fastes épiscopaux de l’Église de Chypre (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantium and Islam in Cyprus in the Early Middle Ages (Open in Zotero)
  • The Nature of the Arab-Byzantine Relations in Cyprus from the Middle of the 7th to the Middle of the 10th Century A.D. (Open in Zotero)
  • The Church of Cyprus during the Period of the Arab Wars, 649-965 (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Synodikon de l’orthodoxie: Édition et commentaire (Open in Zotero)
  • Ἡ Κύπρος καὶ οἱ Ἄραβες (Open in Zotero)
  • Σημειώσεις Ἀναφερόμεναι Εἰς Τῆν Ἱστορίαν Τῆς Βυζαντινῆς Κύπρου (Open in Zotero)
  • Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata (Open in Zotero)