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John ... of the Nikopoloi (seventh/eighth century)

 
 

Obverse

St. Anastasia standing frontally holding a small cross. Crosses in the upper fields. Inscription in two columns: |ΑΓ|ΙΑ|ΑΝ|Α|Σ.|Α..|Α.|Π..|Θ: Ἁγία Ἀνασ[τ]α[σί]α [ἡ] π[αρ]θ[ένος]. Wreath border.

Reverse

Cruciform monogram consisting of Ω, in the middle; , at top; Δ and Α in ligature, at bottom; Χ (possibly), at left; and , at right; in the quarters: ΤΩΝΝΙΚ|.ΠΟ|ΛΩΝ.

Ἰωάννου (?) ....... τῶν Νικοπόλων

Obverse

St. Anastasia standing frontally holding a small cross. Crosses in the upper fields. Inscription in two columns: |ΑΓ|ΙΑ|ΑΝ|Α|Σ.|Α..|Α.|Π..|Θ: Ἁγία Ἀνασ[τ]α[σί]α [ἡ] π[αρ]θ[ένος]. Wreath border.

Reverse

Cruciform monogram consisting of Ω, in the middle; , at top; Δ and Α in ligature, at bottom; Χ (possibly), at left; and , at right; in the quarters: ΤΩΝΝΙΚ|.ΠΟ|ΛΩΝ.

Ἰωάννου (?) ....... τῶν Νικοπόλων

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1186
Diameter 34.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 2.13. See also Zacos-Veglery, no. 1241.

Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore.

Translation

Ἰωάννου (?) ....... τῶν Νικοπόλων (?)

(Seal of) John (?) ....... of the Nikopoloi.

Commentary

The epithet ἡ παρθένος (not read by Zacos-Veglery) of St. Anastasia seems secure enough but cannot be considered absolutely certain because both surviving letters are by no means clear. In the Synaxarium of Constantinople three martyrs bearing the name Anastasia are mentioned, all Roman, of whom only one is called "the virgin"'; her memory is celebrated on 12 October or 29 October (Syn. Eccl. CP, 133, 171). This saint must have enjoyed a special devotion in the church of Nikopolis, as her portrait appears on this seal and BZS 1955.1.4704.

Zacos-Veglery recognized that the monogram is a composite. They read the name Ἰωάννου (reasonably enough) and the word διακόνου or διακονία which also makes sense and can be formed by the letters on the seal. This solution is not comprehensive because it ignores the illegible letter or letters at the left arm of the monogram: the traces resemble a Χ (ἀρχιδιακόνου? this letter, combined with the horizontal line of the monogram provides also a Σ and an Ε) but could as well be a Μ (in this case the name could also be Δαμιανοῦ) or a combination of letters. But we are now deep into the realm of speculation.

Bibliography

  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • 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)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
  • De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
  • Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
  • Nikopolis und Kephallenia (Open in Zotero)
  • Nikopolis I: Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Nicopolis (Open in Zotero)
  • Die sphragistischen Quellen zum byzantinischen Thema Nikopolis (Open in Zotero)
  • Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
  • Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)