Agapetos bishop of Akmoneia (tenth/eleventh century)
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4634 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 20 mm |
| Condition | Corroded. |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 4.1. Laurent, Corpus V/3, no. 1736 (name read as Ἀγαπίῳ). |
Obverse
Monogram composed of letters arranged in a vertical column. Reading from top to bottom: γ|π|α|τ : Ἀγαπιτ(ῷ). On either side a six pointed star () with tongues of fire above and below. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots:
επισ
κοπ
ακμ
νει
ασ.
Ἀγαπιτ(ῷ) ἐπισκόπῳ Ἀκμωνείας.
Translation
Ἀγαπιτῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Ἀκμωνείας.
Agapetos, bishop of Akmoneia.
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4634 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 20 mm |
| Condition | Corroded. |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 4.1. Laurent, Corpus V/3, no. 1736 (name read as Ἀγαπίῳ). |
Commentary
Laurent dated the specimen to the seventh/eighth centuries; but an eleventh-century date is indicated by the presence of the tongues of fire, a decorative element which appears only around the year 1000. See J. Cotsonis, "The Virgin with the 'Tongues of Fire' on Byzantine Lead Seals," DOP 48 (1994) 221-27.
The see, a suffragan bishopric of Laodikeia of Phyrgia, was located at modern Ahat köy. Bishops are attested in documentary sources from the fourth to the eleventh centuries. Curiously, the bishopric does not appear in the notitiae before the eighth century. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 393; Phyrgien und Pisidien, 175-76.