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Leo monk and higoumenos (of the monastery) of Chrysopolis (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin, her hands held open before her. remains of the sigla: .Θ: [Μ(ήτηρ)] Θ(εοῦ). Within a border of dots, a circular inscription.

ΤΣΔˊΛˊ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.

Ε
ΟΝ,ΤΑ..
ΗΓΜ.
ΠΟΛˊ

Λέοντι μοναχ καὶ ἡγουμένῳ Χρυσοπόλεως

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin, her hands held open before her. remains of the sigla: .Θ: [Μ(ήτηρ)] Θ(εοῦ). Within a border of dots, a circular inscription.

ΤΣΔˊΛˊ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.

Ε
ΟΝ,ΤΑ..
ΗΓΜ.
ΠΟΛˊ

Λέοντι μοναχ καὶ ἡγουμένῳ Χρυσοπόλεως

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4783
Diameter 22.0 mm; field: 14.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 78.1.
Laurent, Corpus V/3, no. 1937.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Λέοντι μοναχῷ καὶ ἡγουμένῳ Χρυσοπόλεως.

Theotokos, help your servant Leo, monk and hegoumenos (of the monastery of) Chrysopolis.

Commentary

There is a clear yet unusual abbreviation sign after Ν on line 2 (rev.). It could be a simple mistake of the engraver. Or else one should read Λέον(τι) τα[πει(νῷ)] ἡγουμ[ένῳ] etc., but this seems unlikely.

Chrysopolis (modern Üsküdar, opposite Constantinople) where a monastery of the Virgin was constructed by Philippikos, brother-in-law of the emperor Maurice, in 594. It seems that the mount of St. Elias, probably the hill above Üsküdar, was a dependency of the Chrysopolis monastery, mentioned in the sources until the late tenth century. Our seals, however, suggest that this monastic community flourished well into the eleventh century. Cf. Laurent, Corpus V/3, 241-42; Janin, Grands centres, 23-25. 

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)
  • La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, vol. 2, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins (Open in Zotero)