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John bishop of Prainetos (ninth/tenth century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin. Within concentric circles of dots, a circular inscription.

+ΘΚΕΟΗΘΤΣΔ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.

+ΙΑ
ΝΗΕΠΙΣ
ΚΟΠ ΠΡΕ
ΝΕΤ

Ἰωάννῃ ἐπισκόπ Πρενέτου

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin. Within concentric circles of dots, a circular inscription.

+ΘΚΕΟΗΘΤΣΔ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.

+ΙΑ
ΝΗΕΠΙΣ
ΚΟΠ ΠΡΕ
ΝΕΤ

Ἰωάννῃ ἐπισκόπ Πρενέτου

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4649
Diameter 19.0 mm; field: 15.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 85.1.
Laurent, Corpus V/3, no. 1711.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάννῃ ἐπισκόπῳ Πρενέτου.

Mother of God, help your servant John, bishop of Prainetos.

Commentary

The first datable mention of the see (today Karamüsel) is in 553, and it is mentioned in all notitiae until the thirteenth century (Laurent, Corpus V/2, 277). A bishop was effectively there in 1170 (Rhallès-Potlès III, 442).

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)
  • Syntagma tōn theiōn kai hierōn kanonōn tōn te hagiōn kai paneuphēmōn apostolōn (Open in Zotero)