John bishop of Servia (ninth/tenth century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding medallion of Christ before her. Sigla: ..ΧΥ̅: Μήτηρ Χριστοῦ. Circular inscription, beginning at 6 o'clock, between two borders of dots.
ΘΕΟΤ.ΚΕΟ......ΣΔΟΥΛ
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, decoration below. Border of dots.
ΙΑΝ
ΗΕΠΗΣ
ΚΟΠΟ..
ΡΙΟΝ
Ἰωάνῃ ἐπησκόπο Σερβίον
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding medallion of Christ before her. Sigla: ..ΧΥ̅: Μήτηρ Χριστοῦ. Circular inscription, beginning at 6 o'clock, between two borders of dots.
ΘΕΟΤ.ΚΕΟ......ΣΔΟΥΛ
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, decoration below. Border of dots.
ΙΑΝ
ΗΕΠΗΣ
ΚΟΠΟ..
ΡΙΟΝ
Ἰωάνῃ ἐπησκόπο Σερβίον
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4650 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 20.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 25.1. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάνῃ ἐπησκόπο Σερβίον.
Theotokos, help your servant John bishop of Servia.
Bibliography
- 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)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Βυζαντιακὰ μολυβδόβουλλα. Ἡ συλλογὴ Ἀναστασίου Κ. Π. Σταμούλη (Open in Zotero)
- Μελέται περὶ τῆς διοικητικῆς διαιρέσεως καὶ τῆς ἐπαρχιακῆς διοικήσεως ἐν τῷ βυζαντινῷ κράτει (Open in Zotero)
- A Collection of Dated Byzantine Lead Seals (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The portrait of the Virgin is practically a replica of the one on the seal of Sabas, metropolitan of Athens, attested between 879/80 and 913; Oikonomides, Dated Seals, no. 56. One should also note the appellation μήτηρ Χριστοῦ; it shows that the formula μήτηρ Θεοῦ was not completely generalized, not to mention the Nestorian/iconoclastic trait that it reveals.
Servia (modern Servia), southwest of Berroia, was established as a suffragan see of Thessalonica by the turn of the tenth century (Darrouzès, Notitiae, 278), if not earlier (see DO Seals 1, no. 25.1); cf. Laurent, Corpus V/3, 84-85. A strategos was also set up in Servia shortly before 1001; cf. Kekaumenos, 174, 433-35; Konstantopoulos, Stamoules, no. 85; Zakythinos, Mélétai 17 (1941) 226-27.