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Gabriel Pephlegmenos (twelfth century, first half)

 
 

Obverse

An archangel (Gabriel?) standing, holding a scepter in his right hand and a globus in his left. No sigla visible. Traces of a previous strike (see commentary). Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, a decoration above. Traces of a previous strike (see commentary). Border of dots.

  
σραγισ
..̣ριηλΕ̣.
..τπε.
..μεν.

σφραγὶς [Γα]βριὴλ ε[ἰμὶ] τοῦ Πεφ[λεγ]μέν(ου)

Obverse

An archangel (Gabriel?) standing, holding a scepter in his right hand and a globus in his left. No sigla visible. Traces of a previous strike (see commentary). Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, a decoration above. Traces of a previous strike (see commentary). Border of dots.

  
σραγισ
..̣ριηλΕ̣.
..τπε.
..μεν.

σφραγὶς [Γα]βριὴλ ε[ἰμὶ] τοῦ Πεφ[λεγ]μέν(ου)

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.2246
Diameter 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

Nesbitt, "Overstruck seals," 92–93 (no. 27); cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden II, no. 2371b.

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

Translation

σφραγὶς Γαβριὴλ εἰμὶ τοῦ Πεφλεγμένου.

I am the seal of Gabriel Pephlegmenou.

Commentary

This seal was struck twice. Remnants of an inscription of at least three lines can be seen in the lower right hand quarter of the obverse: να|τιρ|ηλ . We can offer no reading of what appears to have been the reverse inscription of the original seal. On the obverse, traces of a saint's halo and the abbreviation  (ὁ ἅγιος) are visible, but no identification can be made.

Bibliography

  • Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 2, Siegellegenden von Ny bis inklusive Sphragis (Open in Zotero)
  • Overstruck Seals in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Open in Zotero)