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N., proedros and praitor of the Thrakesioi (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Unclear effigies of St. John (either Chrysostom or the Theologian) at left and St. Mark at right. They stand frontally, dressed as bishops, and St. Mark holds a book in his left hand. Vertical inscription at left: ο|ι̅ω|. : Ὁ (ἅγιος) Ἰω[άν(νης) .....]. Vertical inscription at right: |μα|ρ|κο|ς : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Μᾶρκος. No visible border.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, decorations above. Border of dots.

– 
+σφρα
γισπροε
.ρουπραι
ωροσθρα
.η....

Σφραγὶς προέ[δ]ρου πραί[τ]ωρος Θρᾳ[κ]η[σίων]

Obverse

Unclear effigies of St. John (either Chrysostom or the Theologian) at left and St. Mark at right. They stand frontally, dressed as bishops, and St. Mark holds a book in his left hand. Vertical inscription at left: ο|ι̅ω|. : Ὁ (ἅγιος) Ἰω[άν(νης) .....]. Vertical inscription at right: |μα|ρ|κο|ς : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Μᾶρκος. No visible border.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, decorations above. Border of dots.

– 
+σφρα
γισπροε
.ρουπραι
ωροσθρα
.η....

Σφραγὶς προέ[δ]ρου πραί[τ]ωρος Θρᾳ[κ]η[σίων]

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1973
Diameter 36.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 2.32.

Translation

Σφραγὶς προέδρου πραίτωρος Θρᾳκησίων.

Seal of the proedros and praitor of the Thrakesioi.

Commentary

The rendering of the inscription in a twelve-syllable verse allows for some security in the reconstruction of the wording. The decoration of the obverse with St. Mark brings to mind the seals studied in DO Seals 2, no. 8.16.

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)
  • 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)
  • 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)