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John (man of the metropolitan of) Methymna and nobelissimos (eleventh/twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

Ι̅
σφραγισ
μαν.
λ.σι
..

Ἰω(άννου) σφράγισμα νωβ[ε]λ[ι]σί[μου]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

α̆νορ
ανθρπε
.οντμ.
θ....
σ

ἀφ' ὧν ὅρ(α), ἄνθρωπε, [τ]ὸν τοῦ Μ[η]θ[ύμνη]ς

Obverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

Ι̅
σφραγισ
μαν.
λ.σι
..

Ἰω(άννου) σφράγισμα νωβ[ε]λ[ι]σί[μου]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

α̆νορ
ανθρπε
.οντμ.
θ....
σ

ἀφ' ὧν ὅρ(α), ἄνθρωπε, [τ]ὸν τοῦ Μ[η]θ[ύμνη]ς

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1851
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 104.1a.Cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 1043 (arguing for a slightly different reading).

Translation

Ἰωάννου σφράγισμα νωβελισίμου. ἀφ' ὧν ὅρα, ἄνθρωπε, τὸν τοῦ Μηθύμνης.

Seal of John, nobelissimos. From these tokens, man, see that I am the nephew of the metropolitan of Methymna.

Commentary

Two twelve-syllable verses. It is possible, as one editor has proposed, that ἄνθρωπε is a form of Φιλάνθρωπε, an epithet of Christ, shortened here for metrical purposes, but the easier and more likely explanation is that it may simply be addressing anyone who came across the seal.

On line one of the reverse, there is an accent mark over the omega.

The see of Methymna (Μήθυμνα/Μέθυμνα) was located on the island of Lesbos. It was an archbishopric until the later decades of the eleventh century, when it was raised, somewhere around 1080, to the rank of a metropolis. Cf. Laurent, Corpus 5.1: 622–23.

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)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)