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Constantine Kastamonites (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription in five lines. Border of dots.

ΟΥ....
ΓΙΣΕΙΜΙΤ
ΓΡΑΦΗΝ.
Λ̅ΜΑ
Θ.
 

Οὗ σφραγὶς εἰμὶ τὴν γραφὴν βλέπων μάθε

Reverse

Inscription in five (?) lines. Border of dots.

ΚΝ.ΤΑ.
ΤΙΝτ.ΡΙΤ.
Κ....Μ.
ΝΙΤ

Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ κριτοῦ Κασταμονίτου 

Obverse

Inscription in five lines. Border of dots.

ΟΥ....
ΓΙΣΕΙΜΙΤ
ΓΡΑΦΗΝ.
Λ̅ΜΑ
Θ.
 

Οὗ σφραγὶς εἰμὶ τὴν γραφὴν βλέπων μάθε

Reverse

Inscription in five (?) lines. Border of dots.

ΚΝ.ΤΑ.
ΤΙΝτ.ΡΙΤ.
Κ....Μ.
ΝΙΤ

Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ κριτοῦ Κασταμονίτου 

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.3687
Diameter 26.0 mm
Previous Editions

Cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden II, 1713. See also her entry in the first volume, no. 1237, in which a different reading is given.

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

Translation

Οὗ σφραγὶς εἰμὶ τὴν γραφὴν βλέπων μάθε. Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ κριτοῦ Κασταμονίτου. 

Learn whose seal I am by looking at the letter. (I am the seal of) the judge Constantine Kastamonites.

Commentary

The inscription on the seal consists of two dodecasyllabic verses.

The reading of the name is provisional and cannot be established with certainty until a better preserved parallel becomes known. Wassiliou-Seibt reads the reverse inscription as Κωνσταντίνου τυγχάνω τ(οῦ) Σ̣α̣ρ̣ων̣ίτου: I happen to be the seal of Constantine Saronites. It is also possible that there was an additional line at the top of the reverse inscription, the details of which are not visible due to the poor state of preservation.

Bibliography

  • Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 2, Siegellegenden von Ny bis inklusive Sphragis (Open in Zotero)