Nikephoros Botaneiates, magistros, vestes, vestarches, and doux of Edessa and Antioch (before 1062)
Obverse
Inscription of five lines preceded and followed by a decoration. Border of dots.
ΚΕ,Θ,
ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡ,
..ΓΙΣΤΡΟ
ΕΣΤΗΕ
ΣΤΑΡΧ,
Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) Νικηφόρ(ῳ) [μα]γίστρο, βέστῃ, βεστάρχ(ῃ)
Reverse
Inscription of five lines preceded by decoration, the final letters flanked by two horizontal bars. Border of dots.
SΟΥΚΙ
ΕΕΣΟΥ..
ΝΤΙ....
ΟΤΑΝΗ
ΑΤΗ
(καὶ) δουκὶ Ἐδέσου [(καὶ) Ἀ]ντι[οχ(είας) τῷ] Βοτανηάτῃ
Obverse
Inscription of five lines preceded and followed by a decoration. Border of dots.
ΚΕ,Θ,
ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡ,
..ΓΙΣΤΡΟ
ΕΣΤΗΕ
ΣΤΑΡΧ,
Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) Νικηφόρ(ῳ) [μα]γίστρο, βέστῃ, βεστάρχ(ῃ)
Reverse
Inscription of five lines preceded by decoration, the final letters flanked by two horizontal bars. Border of dots.
SΟΥΚΙ
ΕΕΣΟΥ..
ΝΤΙ....
ΟΤΑΝΗ
ΑΤΗ
(καὶ) δουκὶ Ἐδέσου [(καὶ) Ἀ]ντι[οχ(είας) τῷ] Βοτανηάτῃ
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.175 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 31.0 mm; field: 26.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 5 no. 9.2; Zacos-Veglery, no. 2686. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει Νικηφόρῳ μαγίστρο, βέστῃ, βεστάρχῃ καὶ δουκὶ Ἐδέσου καὶ Ἀντιοχείας τῷ Βοτανηάτῃ.
Lord, help Nikephoros Botaneiates, magistros, vestes, vestarches, and doux of Edessa and Antioch.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- La chronologie des gouverneurs d’Antioche sous la seconde domination byzantine (Open in Zotero)
- Vizantijskie praviteli Edessy v XI v. (Open in Zotero)
- Sceaux de la collection Zacos (Bibliothèque nationale de France), se rapportant aux provinces orientales de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Region und griechisch-orthodoxes Patriarchat von Antiocheia in mittelbyzantinischer Zeit und im Zeitalter der Kreuzzüge (969–1204) (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Zacos-Veglery did not decipher the third line of the reverse and concluded that Nikephoros was doux of Edessa in Makedonia. We must stress that despite partial erasure the word βέστῃ in the first part of line 4 of the obverse is legible from the traces of letters left on the original. The second part of line 4 on the reverse is also effaced: here the traces are not as clear, but they do not stand in the way of the proposed reading [Ἀ]ντι[οχ(είας)], based on the surviving letters of the beginning of the line.
The future emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1078–81) is known to have been doux of Antioch in 1067–68 (Laurent, “Gouverneurs d’Antioche,” 246, no. 28), but from at least 1062 he already had the title of proedros. The lower-ranking title of magistros dates this specimen to before 1062, and thus attests a previously unknown tenure as governor of Antioch. Our seal also indicates that Botaneiates should be added to the list of Byzantine governors of Edessa; see: V. Arutiunova,“Vizantiiskie praviteli Edessy v XI v.,” with revisions by Cheynet, Collection Zacos, 59 (see also BZS.1958.106.4763 and BZS.1958.106.4919) of the Byzantine governors of Edessa. For Botaneiates’ cursus honorum, see Zacos-Veglery, 1463–65 and Todt, “Region,” 306–15.
The present seal raises two problems. First is the chronology of Botaneiates’ governorship of Antioch. Second is the fact that the title vestes is followed by vestarches; this sequence, to our knowledge unique, does not make sense, since vestarches is the head of the vestai (Oikonomides, Listes, 294, 299) and so should be mentioned first. The resolution of these problems awaits further evidence.