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Nicholas archbishop of Ephesos (ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type VIII). In the quarters: .-σ|δ-λ. Wreath border.

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, probably beginning with a cross. Partially effaced. Wreath border:

.νικ.
.ρχι
επισκοπ
..εσο.

Νικ[ολ]άῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ [Ἐφ]έσο[υ].

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type VIII). In the quarters: .-σ|δ-λ. Wreath border.

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, probably beginning with a cross. Partially effaced. Wreath border:

.νικ.
.ρχι
επισκοπ
..εσο.

Νικ[ολ]άῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ [Ἐφ]έσο[υ].

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4711
Diameter 27.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 14.5a.

Laurent, Corpus V/3, no. 1685 (misread as the seal of an archbishop Καισαρείας).

Translation

Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικολάῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Ἐφέσου.

Lord, help your servant Nicholas, archbishop of Ephesos.

Commentary

This seal and BZS.1955.1.4710 are from different boulloteria, but they date from the same period. With the exception of the monogram type, they seem to be copies of each other, including the exact layout of the reverse inscription. They likely belonged to the same owner.

The ancient city of Ephesos was abandoned in the seventh century in favor of the security of the inland fortress of Theologos, where the famous basilica (and major pilgrimage center) of St. John the Evangelist stood (near modern Selçuk). The name (Ἅγιος) Θεολόγος, Theologo, Ayasoluk was currently used when speaking of the medieval town and its administrators, such as the commander of the fortress, the paraphylax, or the archon (eighth/ninth century: Zacos-Veglery, no. 2282A) and the (undoubtedly naval) droungarios (ninth century: ibid., 2561A; Konstantopoulos, no. 135). But the old name, Ephesos, also survived in civil administration: Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos informs us that the theme of Samos, which is first attested at the very end of the ninth century, had control over the tourma of Ephesos (Ἐφέσιον: De Them., chap. XVI, line 14), while we have mentions of tax collectors (dioiketes) of Ephesos (ActaSS November III, 540; Zacos-Veglery, no. 2487). We have the impression that Theologos was the local usage, while Ephesos came from the learned circles of Constantinople and was the name that prevailed alone in the ecclesiastic administration.

Ephesos was a major metropolis, with no less than 39 suffragans attached to it at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, claiming to preserve the remains of the Apostle John (whose representation appears on the obverse on some seals of metropolitans). It is mentioned in all notitiae.

See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 178; Culerrier, Suffragants d'Ephèse; ODB I, 706; W. Seibt, "Drei byzantinische Bleisiegel aus Ephesos," Litterae numismaticae vindobonenses Roberto Goebl dedicatae (Vienna, 1979), 145-54; W. Brandes, "Ephesos in byzantinischer Zeit," Klio 64 (1982) 611-22; Brandes, Städte, 83-85.

Bibliography