The hypologoi of Nicaea (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin orans. Sigla: ̅ΘΥ̅: Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
+ΚΕ,Θ,
ΤΟΙΣΥΠΟ
ΛΟΓΙΟΙΣ
ΝΙΚΑΙ
AΣ
Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) τοῖς ὑπολογίοις Νικαίας
Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4931 |
---|---|
Diameter | 25.0 mm; field: 20.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 59.2a. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τοῖς ὑπολογίοις Νικαίας
Lord, help the hypologioi of Nicaea.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, vol. 2, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The abbreviation sign after Γ (line 4) cannot be explained and is likely due to an engraver's error. The term ὑπολόγιος (ὑπόλογος) seems to indicate a person held accountable for something which is not specified. This seems to be the meaning of the word as used by Ps.-Symeon Magistros, Bonn, 623, with reference to the inhabitants of a monastery, who are accountable for its belongings. Zacos (Seals II, nos. 258 and 866) published two seals of hypologoi of Abydos (he posits control of trade), and mentions a third seal of the Fogg Collection (BZS.1951.31.5.633). We are more inclined to take them as members of a welfare institution (or of a group of institutions), perhaps a pious association. It is worth noting that there was in Nicaea a nunnery called τῆς Νικαίας (Janin, Grand centres, 118). No explanation is certain.