Stephanos (metropolitan) of Sardeis (twelfth century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin orans, the medallion of Christ before her. On either side the inscription: μ̅- ̅ : Μ(ήτηρ) [Θ(εοῦ)]. Border of dots.
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin orans, the medallion of Christ before her. On either side the inscription: μ̅- ̅ : Μ(ήτηρ) [Θ(εοῦ)]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
+τον
..ρδεον
...φανον
.γνημε
σκεποισ
Τὸν [Σά]ρδεον [Στέ]φανον, [Ἁ]γνή, με σκέποις
Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1976 |
---|---|
Diameter | 23.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 32.7. |
Translation
Τὸν Σάρδεον Στέφανον, Ἁγνή, με σκέποις.
O Holy (Virgin), may you watch over me, Stephanos (the metropolitan) of Sardeis.
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)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Kleinasiatische Ortsnamen (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine and Turkish Sardis (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The inscription is a twelve-syllable verse.
Sardeis (modern Sart), was capital of Lydia and seat of a metropolitan, attested since 325. The non-hellenic name appears on seals as well as in the notitiae in two main forms, the classical Σάρδεις, -εων, and the popular Σάρδη, ἦς, or non-declined Σάρδης (whenever in doubt, we have restored the classical form). From the seals we learn that it was also a fiscal center. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 260-61 (add Zacos, Seals II, nos. 670, 869); Zgusta, 541-42; C. Foss, Byzantine and Turkish Sardis (Cambridge, Mass., 1976); Brandes, Städte, 86-88; ODB III, 1843.