Nicholas metropolitan of Asmosaton (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of St. Nicholas; details indistinct. Inscription in two columns: -ο|λ|ο : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) [Νι]κόλ[α]ο(ς). No visible border.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, a decoration below. No visible border.
.κεRθ
..κολ.
μητρ,πο
λητ,σμ
στον
– –
Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) [Νι]κολ[άο] μητρ(ο)πολήτ(ῃ) Ἀσμ[ο]σάτον
Obverse
Bust of St. Nicholas; details indistinct. Inscription in two columns: -ο|λ|ο : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) [Νι]κόλ[α]ο(ς). No visible border.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, a decoration below. No visible border.
.κεRθ
..κολ.
μητρ,πο
λητ,σμ
στον
– –
Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) [Νι]κολ[άο] μητρ(ο)πολήτ(ῃ) Ἀσμ[ο]σάτον
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4829 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 24.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 58.2. A parallel specimen is published in Laurent, "Sceau inédit du métropole d'Asmosata Nicolas," EO 28 (1929) 295-96 (= Corpus V/3, no. 1800). |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει Νικολάο μητροπολήτῃ Ἀσμοσάτον.
Lord, help Nicholas, metropolitan of Asmosaton.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Studies in Byzantine Sigillography (Open in Zotero)
- Sceau inédit du métropole d’Asmosata Nicolas (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
In the second line of the reverse, our reading of the spelling of Nicholas' name follows the letters preserved on the Laurent specimen. In the fifth line, Laurent incorrectly read the last letter as an upsilon.
Modern Ašmušat, located near the southern bank of the Murad-su (Arsanias river; cf. Listes, 360). The metropolis seems to have been established at the same time as the creation of the theme of Asmosaton (shortly after 938; Listes, 360) and continued to exist until the Seljuk invasion of the area after 1050. See Laurent, Corpus V/3, 143; Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 6, l. 57, no. 9, l. 559, no. 10, l.798, no. 13, l. 815; cf. SBS 6 (1999) 81.