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Peter bishop of Euchaita (seventh/eighth century)

 
 

Obverse

A bearded military saint, seemingly St. Theodore, stabbing a snake with his spear, his left hand resting on a shield set on the ground; trees on both sides. The snake is crawling out from a small structure at right. Wreath border.

Reverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). Circular inscription along the circumference between two wreath borders:

πετρεπισκοπευχαιτν

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Πέτρῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Εὐχαΐτων

Obverse

A bearded military saint, seemingly St. Theodore, stabbing a snake with his spear, his left hand resting on a shield set on the ground; trees on both sides. The snake is crawling out from a small structure at right. Wreath border.

Reverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). Circular inscription along the circumference between two wreath borders:

πετρεπισκοπευχαιτν

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Πέτρῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Εὐχαΐτων

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4669
Diameter 23.0 mm; field: 18.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 16.4a; Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 852; Zacos-Veglery, no. 1288.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει Πέτρῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Εὐχαΐτων.

Mother of God, help Peter, bishop of Euchaita.

Commentary

This seal is of the same design and date as BZS.1951.31.5.101; since it carries the same inscription, it is likely that both belonged to the same person.

Compare the format of the seal of Peter, archbishop of Thessalonike (after 733), published in Dated Seals, no. 35. As Laurent has rightly pointed out, the obverse contains a representation of St. Theodore killing the dragon, a deed known from the early Lives of the saint.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • A Collection of Dated Byzantine Lead Seals (Open in Zotero)
  • Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
  • Le dédoublement de Saint Théodore et les villes d’Euchaïta et d’Euchaneia (Open in Zotero)
  • Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
  • Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)