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Niketas judge of the Thrakesioi (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of four lines, decoration above. No visible border.

·
Ψιφσ
RιRεS
κυρS.
.ρισ

Ψίφους βαιβεῶ (καὶ) κυρῶ (καὶ) [τὰς κ]ρίσ[εις]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. No visible border.

δικασ
πολνι
κητατ.
θρακησ
.ν

δικασπόλου Νικήτα τῶ[ν] Θρκησ[ί]ων

Obverse

Inscription of four lines, decoration above. No visible border.

·
Ψιφσ
RιRεS
κυρS.
.ρισ

Ψίφους βαιβεῶ (καὶ) κυρῶ (καὶ) [τὰς κ]ρίσ[εις]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. No visible border.

δικασ
πολνι
κητατ.
θρακησ
.ν

δικασπόλου Νικήτα τῶ[ν] Θρκησ[ί]ων

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1928
Diameter 21.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 2.22.

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

Translation

Ψίφους βαιβεῶ καὶ κυρῶ καὶ τὰς κρίσεις 
δικασπόλου Νικήτα τῶν Θρᾳκησίων.

I ratify the decisions and confirm the judgements of Niketas, dispenser of justice in the theme of the Thrakesioi.

Commentary

This seal's owner appears to be the same Niketas named on BZS.1958.106.2871, BZS.1951.31.5.994, and BZS.1951.31.5.1930. This seal appears to be earlier than its counterpart BZS.1958.106.4299 since the ου ligature is rendered in the horseshoe shape that became common in the eleventh century. These seals were likely struck at a time just when fashions were changing.

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 (Open in Zotero)
  • Constantini Porphyrogeniti De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Praetorians: An Administrative, Institutional, and Social Survey of the Opsikion and Tagmata, c. 580-900 (Open in Zotero)
  • Theophanis Chronographia (Open in Zotero)
  • L’histoire et la géographie de la région de Smyrne entre les deux occupations turques (1081-1317), particulièrement au XIIIe siècle (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • “Thrakien” und “Thrakesion” (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)