Nikephoros Ouranos, magistros and ruler of the East (tenth/eleventh century)
Obverse
The Mother of God holding Christ. Inscription: μρ̅.. : Μ(ήτη)ρ [Θ(εο)ῦ]. Along the upper border of dots, inscription.
+ΘΚΕ....Τ......
Θ(εοτό)κε β[οήθ(ει)] τῷ [σῷ δούλῳ]
Reverse
Inscription of six lines followed by an ornament. Border of dots.
.....
ΟΡ,ΜΑΓΙΣ
.Ρ,ΤΚΡΑ
...ΝΤΙΤΗΣ
..ΑΤΟΛΗΣ
.Ο̅Υ̅Ν̅
[Νικηφ]όρ(ῳ) μαγίσ[τ]ρ(ῳ) τῷ κρα[τοῦ]ντι τῆς [Ἀν]ατολῆς [τῷ] Οὐ(ρα)νῷ
Obverse
The Mother of God holding Christ. Inscription: μρ̅.. : Μ(ήτη)ρ [Θ(εο)ῦ]. Along the upper border of dots, inscription.
+ΘΚΕ....Τ......
Θ(εοτό)κε β[οήθ(ει)] τῷ [σῷ δούλῳ]
Reverse
Inscription of six lines followed by an ornament. Border of dots.
.....
ΟΡ,ΜΑΓΙΣ
.Ρ,ΤΚΡΑ
...ΝΤΙΤΗΣ
..ΑΤΟΛΗΣ
.Ο̅Υ̅Ν̅
[Νικηφ]όρ(ῳ) μαγίσ[τ]ρ(ῳ) τῷ κρα[τοῦ]ντι τῆς [Ἀν]ατολῆς [τῷ] Οὐ(ρα)νῷ
| Accession number | BZS 1951.31.5.1576 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 26.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 99.11. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικηφόρῳ μαγίστρῳ τῷ κρατοῦντι τῆς Ἀνατολῆς τῷ Οὐρανῷ.
Theotokos, help your servant Nikephoros Ouranos, magistros and ruler of the East.
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
- Tradition and Reality in the Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos
- Recherches sur les institutions byzantines
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles
- L’évolution de l’organisation administrative de l’empire byzantin au XIe siècle (1025–1118)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 1
- Molivdovuly Grecheskogo Vostoka
- Les sceaux byzantins de la Collection Henri Seyrig
- Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung
- Sowing the dragon's teeth: Byzantine warfare in the tenth century
Commentary
This is undoubtedly Basil II's famous general who, after his crushing victory over the Bulgarians at Spercheios, was given the command of Antioch in the year 999 (Guilland, Recherches, 448; McGeer, "Ouranos," 131). As his mandate was to survey the eastern frontier while Basil subjugated Bulgaria, he was not named doux of Antioch but was invested with much broader powers that are described by the non-technical expression "ruler of the East," in other words, the emperor's plenipotentiary in the east.
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