Paul, metropolitan of Nicaea (eighth/ninth century)
Obverse
The Virgin standing, holding the Child. On either side, block monograms reading Θεοτόκε and βοήθη. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθη
Obverse
The Virgin standing, holding the Child. On either side, block monograms reading Θεοτόκε and βοήθη. Wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθη
Reverse
In the center, a cruciform monogram reading Παύλῳ. Along the circumference, between the inner circle of dots and outer wreath border, an inscription beginning at 12 o'clock:
+ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛ..ΗΝΙΚΑΙΑΣ
Παύλῳ μητροπολιτῃ Νηκαίας
Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4830 |
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Diameter | 28.0 mm; field: 25.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 3 no. 59.11. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθη Παύλῳ μητροπολίτῃ Νικαίας.
Mother of God, help Paul, metropolitan of Nicaea.
Bibliography
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- 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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (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)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Zacos-Veglery dated this specimen to the seventh or eighth century. Granted, the letter forms are archaic and could justify such a date; but we prefer to place it in the years of the iconophile reaction (between 787-815) because of the iconography of the obverse and of the existence of a second border of dots on the reverse.