Theodore archbishop of Selge (?) (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin with hands open in front of her. On either side the sigla: ΜΡ̅ΘΥ̅ : Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin with hands open in front of her. On either side the sigla: ΜΡ̅ΘΥ̅ : Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, bottom line effaced. Border of dots.
..Ε,Θ,
.ΕΟΔΡ,
. ΠΙΣΚ,Π,
ΣΕΛΓ
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεοδώρῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Σέλγης (?)
Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4682 |
---|---|
Diameter | 20.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 77.2. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Θεοδώρῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Σέλγης.
Mother of God, help Theodore archbishop of Selge.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
- Kleinasiatische Ortsnamen (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The letters of the last line are muddled, and their reading is not secure. Also, there is a problem of space in line 3: only one letter is missing at the beginning of the line. Because we can see the remains of a chi suspended above the line, we assume that the ligature Α and Ρ lay beneath it.
Selge (today Zerk/Altınkaya) was a bishopric suffragan of Side since at least the 5th century; in the early 9th century, it was elevated to the rank of archbishopric and is attested as such in all notitiae. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 652 (add Zacos, Seals II, no. 570); Fedalto, 244-45; Brandes, Städte, 128; Zgusta, 551-52.