The proedros (metropolitan) of Nikomedeia (eighth century)
Obverse
A cross within a cruciform frame adorned by pellets at each end. Within a double wreath border, a circular inscription along the circumference:
...ΑΓΙΣΠΡΟΕΔΡΝΙΚΟΔΕΙΑΣΠΕΛ
[σφρ]αγὶς προέδρου Νικομηδείας πέλω
Reverse
A four-lobed, vined tendril adorned with pellets in each quarter. The inscription is in the shape of a cross (intersecting at the Π), reading vertically: Τ|Υ|Π||Σ||ΣΥΜ. Reading horizontally: Β ΖΩΗΦΟΡ,Ν. All within a wreath border.
(διττῶς) ζωηφόρ(ον) τυποῦσα συμ(εῖον)
Obverse
A cross within a cruciform frame adorned by pellets at each end. Within a double wreath border, a circular inscription along the circumference:
...ΑΓΙΣΠΡΟΕΔΡΝΙΚΟΔΕΙΑΣΠΕΛ
[σφρ]αγὶς προέδρου Νικομηδείας πέλω
Reverse
A four-lobed, vined tendril adorned with pellets in each quarter. The inscription is in the shape of a cross (intersecting at the Π), reading vertically: Τ|Υ|Π||Σ||ΣΥΜ. Reading horizontally: Β ΖΩΗΦΟΡ,Ν. All within a wreath border.
(διττῶς) ζωηφόρ(ον) τυποῦσα συμ(εῖον)
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1038 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 29.0 mm |
| Condition | Broken along the circumference. The reading has been restored with reference to the better preserved parallels published in other collections. |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 83.10a; and Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 375. Cf. Zacos-Veglery, nos. 2293a and 2993b; Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden II, no. 2770. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
σφραγὶς προέδρου Νικομηδείας πέλω διττῶς ζωηφόρον τυποῦσα συμεῖον.
I am the seal of the proedros of Nikomedeia, representing the life-giving symbol in two ways.
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)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Βυζαντιακὰ μολυβδόβουλλα τοῦ ἐν ἈΘήναις Ἐθνικοῦ Νομισματικοῦ Μουσείου (Open in Zotero)
- Le livre du préfet; ou, L’édit de l’empereur Léon le Sage sur les corporations de Constantinople (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Dodecasyllabic, but the second verse is made of two six-syllable distichs.
We read the first word of the second verse as διττῶς since the letter Β is normally used also for the numeral and can be read as "two" or "twice," etc.; it is followed by a small circle above the line, normally the abbreviation for -ος. Thus we assume that there is a spelling mistake, and we read the adverb διττῶς ("in two ways," a reading closer to the epigraphy than διπλοῦν, proposed by Laurent but ignored by Zacos-Veglery).
Laurent placed the present specimen in the late tenth or early eleventh; Zacos-Veglery opted for the early eighth century on the basis of the epigraphy and the similarity in design to seals of that period (Zacos-Veglery, nos. 1460, 1637, and 3011). The combination of the cross and the metrical verses point to a date sometime during the first Iconoclasm (726-787).