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Theodo..., bishop of Keramos (?) (seventh/eighth century)

 
 

Obverse

Almost completely obliterated; faint remains of a cruciform invocative monogram (apparently addressed to the Theotokos); in the quarters: ..ΟΔ|Ο.... No border visible.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεοδο...

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, beginning and ending with a cross. Wreath border.

ΕΠΙ
ΣΚΟΠΟΝ
ΚΕΡ..
ΜΟΥ

ἐπισκόπον Κεράμμου

Obverse

Almost completely obliterated; faint remains of a cruciform invocative monogram (apparently addressed to the Theotokos); in the quarters: ..ΟΔ|Ο.... No border visible.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεοδο...

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, beginning and ending with a cross. Wreath border.

ΕΠΙ
ΣΚΟΠΟΝ
ΚΕΡ..
ΜΟΥ

ἐπισκόπον Κεράμμου

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1921
Diameter 29.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 67.1.

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

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεοδο... ἐπισκόπον Κεράμου.

Theotokos, help Theodo..., bishop of Keramos.

Commentary

Line 3 (rev.): the letter Ρ is fairly certain. The only difficulty with the reading is that line 3 needs two more letters to be balanced. Still, the possibilities are somewhat limited. For this reason we propose, with reservations, a restitution that takes into account a spelling mistake, the double Μ. The name of the prelate could be Θεοδόσιος, Θεόδουλος, or Θεόδωρος (with a spelling mistake).

Keramos (modern Ören in Gereme), on the north shore of the Keramic gulf, was a suffragan bishopric of Aphrodisias/Stauroupolis; it is listed in all notitiae episcopatuum from the 7th to the 12th century. Its bishops attended the councils of 431, 787, and 879. See DHGE 12 (1950) 153.

Bibliography

  • 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)
  • Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques (Open in Zotero)