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Theodoulos of the Pantokrator monastery (twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

A standing figure of Christ. At right: ΧΣ̅ : [Ἰ(σοῦ)ς] Χ(ριστό)ς, and the right half of a circular inscription: κρατρ: [Ὁ Παντο]κράτωρ. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines preceded by a cross. Border of dots.


θεο
λον
ποι
σον
κρ

Θεό[δου]λον [σκέ]ποι[ς τὸν] σὸν [δ(οῦλον), Παντ(ο)]κρ[άτωρ]

Obverse

A standing figure of Christ. At right: ΧΣ̅ : [Ἰ(σοῦ)ς] Χ(ριστό)ς, and the right half of a circular inscription: κρατρ: [Ὁ Παντο]κράτωρ. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines preceded by a cross. Border of dots.


θεο
λον
ποι
σον
κρ

Θεό[δου]λον [σκέ]ποι[ς τὸν] σὸν [δ(οῦλον), Παντ(ο)]κρ[άτωρ]

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4981
Diameter 26.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 54.2. See also Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 875.

Translation

Θεόδουλον σκέποις τὸν σὸν δοῦλον, Παντοκράτωρ.

Pantokrator, watch over your servant Theodoulos.

Commentary

Instead of τὸν σὸν δοῦλον, the inscription on the reverse might have read με σὸν δοῦλον.

There is no indication of who Theodoulos was, but it seems reasonable to suspect, as did the editors of DO Seals 5, that he was either a monk or hegoumenos.

Emperor John II Komnenos (1118–1143) founded the monastery of the Pantokrator on a site east of the church of the Holy Apostles. The complex consisted of a male monastery, a hospital, a gerokomeion, and three churches: one dedicated to the Pantokrator, a second to St. Michael, and a third to the Theotokos Ἐλεοῦσα. According to John II's typikon of 1136, the monastery was home to some 80 monks, and was endowed with properties in Thrace, Macedonia, and the Peloponnesos. See ODB 4:1575, and Janin,Églises, 515–23; for the typikon, see Gautier, "Pantokrator," 1–145, and Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents, 2:725–781.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Open in Zotero)
  • Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
  • La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, Vol. 1, Le siège de Constantinople et le patriarcat oecuménique, Pt. 3, Les églises et les monastères (Open in Zotero)
  • Le typikon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders’ Typika and Testaments (Open in Zotero)
  • Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 1, Siegellegenden von Alpha bis inclusive My (Open in Zotero)