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N. bishop of Tarsos (tenth/eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. Paul blessing with his right hand. Vertical inscription visible at left: |ΠΑ|ΥὉ ἅ(γιος) Παῦ[λος]. Beginning of circular inscription at 7 o'clock.

ΚΕΟ.

Κ(ύρι)ε βο[ἠθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ]

Reverse

Inscription of four lines ending with a decoration, and a decoration below. Border of dots.

....Λ.
..ΕΘΕ
..Ι.ΚΟΠ
.ΑΡΣΟΥ


....λ[. ἐλ]έῳ Θεοῦ [ἐπ]ι[σ]κόπῳ [Τ]αρσοῦ.

Obverse

Bust of St. Paul blessing with his right hand. Vertical inscription visible at left: |ΠΑ|ΥὉ ἅ(γιος) Παῦ[λος]. Beginning of circular inscription at 7 o'clock.

ΚΕΟ.

Κ(ύρι)ε βο[ἠθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ]

Reverse

Inscription of four lines ending with a decoration, and a decoration below. Border of dots.

....Λ.
..ΕΘΕ
..Ι.ΚΟΠ
.ΑΡΣΟΥ


....λ[. ἐλ]έῳ Θεοῦ [ἐπ]ι[σ]κόπῳ [Τ]αρσοῦ.

Accession number BZS 1958.106.98
Diameter 23.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 5.5; Laurent, Corpus 5.2: no. 1539 (with a slightly different reading).

Translation

Κύριε βοἠθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ ....λ. ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ ἐπισκόπῳ Ταρσοῦ.

Lord, help your servant, N., by the grace of God bishop of Tarsos.

Commentary

Tarsos was the most wealthy and powerful of the towns on the Cilician plain, and following its capture by the Arabs and use as a base for raids into  Byzantine territory, became the focus of Nikephoros Phokas’s eastern campaigns. The city was recaptured and was converted into an imperial kouratoreia, as well as the seat for a strategos, later under the authority of the doux of Antioch. By the end of the eleventh century, control passed into the hands of Armenian chieftains.

Laurent read the letter remaining on the top line of the reverse as a beta, whereas here lambda is preferred. None of the names of metropolitans of Tarsos recorded for this period can be reconciled with this one letter.

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)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)