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The imperial kommerkia (of Thrace?) (801/2)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of Irene (costume indistinct), wearing crown with a cross and two triangular projections and holding a cruciform scepter, of which only the upper portion is visible. Indiction sign: ·Ι·. Wreath border.

νδικτιὼν ιˊ

Reverse

Inscription in three (?) lines. Wreath border.

τνβ/
κομερκ.
....

Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης

Obverse

Bust of Irene (costume indistinct), wearing crown with a cross and two triangular projections and holding a cruciform scepter, of which only the upper portion is visible. Indiction sign: ·Ι·. Wreath border.

νδικτιὼν ιˊ

Reverse

Inscription in three (?) lines. Wreath border.

τνβ/
κομερκ.
....

Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.2778
Diameter 25.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 71.20.
Zacos-Veglery, no. 280a. For a second specimen, see the commentary.

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

Translation

Τῶν βασιλικῶν κομερκίων τῆς Θρᾴκης.

(Seal of) the imperial kommerkia of Thrace.

Commentary

The reading, although uncertain, is suggested by the inscription on a similar seal published by Zacos-Veglery, no. 280b.

Bibliography

  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
  • De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
  • “Thrakien” und “Thrakesion” (Open in Zotero)
  • Die zweihundertjährige Reform (Zu den Anfängen der Themenorganisation im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert) (Open in Zotero)
  • Ανίχνευση τοπογραφική της ανατολικής Θράκης (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung (Open in Zotero)
  • La Thrace Orientale et La Mer Noire: Géographie Ecclésiastique et Prosopographie (VIIIe-XIIe Siècles) (Open in Zotero)
  • Constantini Porphyrogeniti De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (Open in Zotero)