Gregory metropolitan of Kyzikos (ninth century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding the medallion of Christ before her. On either side the sigla: Θ̅Υ: Μ(ήτη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Within concentric circles of dots, inscription beginning at seven o'clock:
+ΘΚΕΟ........ΔΟΥΛ /
Θ(εοτό)κε βο[ήθει τῷ σῷ] δούλ(ῳ)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding the medallion of Christ before her. On either side the sigla: Θ̅Υ: Μ(ήτη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Within concentric circles of dots, inscription beginning at seven o'clock:
+ΘΚΕΟ........ΔΟΥΛ /
Θ(εοτό)κε βο[ήθει τῷ σῷ] δούλ(ῳ)
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.
+ΓΡΗΓΟΡ
ΙΕΛΑΧΙΣΤ
ΜΗ.ΡΟΠΟ
ΛˊΚΥΖΙΚ,
Γρηγορίῳ ἐλαχίστῳ μη[τ]ροπολ(ίτῃ) Κυζίκ(ου)
Accession number | BZS.1947.2.77 |
---|---|
Diameter | 23.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 53.5. Laurent, Corpus, V/1, no. 347 |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Γρηγορίῳ ἐλαχίστῳ μητροπολίτῃ Κυζίκου.
Mother of God, help your servant Gregory, most humble metropolitan of Kyzikos.
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)
- Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Kleinasiatische Ortsnamen (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The owner of this specimen was most probably the metropolitan Gregory who attended the Photian Synod of 879 (Mansi XVIIA, 373B).
Kyzikos (modern Balkız) was originally a bishopric of the eparchia of Asia, but in the second half of the IVth century it became the metropolis of the Hellespont. It is listed in all the notitiae until the XVth century. In 688-689 Cypriots were brought to inhabit the peninsula together with their archbishop (cf. DOSeals 2.38). See Laurent, Corpus, V/1, 246-47; Zgusta, 310; Brandes, Städte, 115-18; ODB II, 1164-65.
In addition to the seals of this see published by Laurent, see the bulla of Leo of Kyzikos published in Zacos, Seals II, no. 552; cf. SBS 3 [1993] 186.