Basil Machetaris, vestes, judge and katepano of Melitene and of Lykandos (eleventh century, second half)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin orans with the medallion of Christ in front of her (type of Episkepsis, according to Seibt, SBS 1, 54). Sigla: ̅-θ̅υ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. A semicircular inscription above. Border of dots.
+θκεRοηθ,
Θ(εοτό)κε βοήθ(ει)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin orans with the medallion of Christ in front of her (type of Episkepsis, according to Seibt, SBS 1, 54). Sigla: ̅-θ̅υ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. A semicircular inscription above. Border of dots.
+θκεRοηθ,
Θ(εοτό)κε βοήθ(ει)
Reverse
Inscription of seven lines. Border of dots.
Rσιλ,
Rεστ,κρι
τ,Sκτεπ,
μελιτ,Sλι
κνδ,τ
μχητ
-ρι-
βασιλ(είῳ) βέστ(ῃ), κριτ(ῇ) (καὶ) κατεπ(άνω) Μελιτ(ηνῆς) (καὶ) Λικανδ(οῦ) τῷ Μαχητάρι
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.1371 |
---|---|
Diameter | 32.0 mm; field: 27.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 53.5a. G. Sclumberger, in Sig., 282-83, no. 4, published a seal of the British Museum with the same inscription but seemingly from a different boulloterion. Cf. Birch, no. 17,559. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει βασιλείῳ βέστῃ, κριτῇ καὶ κατεπάνω Μελιτηνῆς καὶ Λικανδοῦ τῷ Μαχητάρι.
Mother of God, help Basil Machetaris, vestes, judge, and katepano of Melitene and of Lykandos.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
- De Administrando Imperio (Open in Zotero)
- Histoire de la dynastie des H’amdanides de Jazîra et de Syrie (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Michaelis Attaliotae Historia (Open in Zotero)
- Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Katalog molivdovulov (Open in Zotero)
- Sfragistika (Open in Zotero)
- Kappadokien (Kappadokia, Charsianon, Sebasteia und Lykandos) (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Mleh le Grand (Open in Zotero)
- Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (Open in Zotero)
- Die Darstellung der Theotokos auf byzantinischen Bleisiegeln, besonders im 11. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
- Etudes arméno-byzantines (Open in Zotero)
- Studies in Byzantine Sigillography (Open in Zotero)
- Molivdovuly dolžnostnyh lic Vizantii XI veka (novoe čtenie legend) (Open in Zotero)
- Les sceaux byzantins du Médaillier Vatican (Open in Zotero)
- Theophylacti Archridensis Opera (Open in Zotero)
- Catalogue of Seals in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This seal and BZS.1958.106.5399 come from the same boulloterion, but the lettering of this seal is sharper, while the other seal shows signs that the matrices had begun to wear out.
The seal has been discussed by several scholars, including N. Adontz, Etudes arméno-byzantines (Lisbon, 1965), 137-141 (= Byzantion 9 [1934] 367-371): although he provides useful information about the Armenian family of Machetaris, his theories concerning chronology and identifications of persons are fanciful. Other seals that may have belonged to our Basil Machetaris are preserved in the Hermitage (M 8468 and 6689): V. Sandrovskaja, “Molivdovuly dolznostyh lic Vizantii XI veka (novoe ctenie legend),” Vspomogatelnye istoriceskie discipliny 23 (1991) 102-112, nos. 1 and 2; cf. SBS 3 (1993) 166. Both are earlier than the present specimen since Basil is mentioned (a) as hypatos and judge (cf. Laurent, Vatican, no. 129) and (b) as protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou, mystolektes and judge of the Hippodrome and of Lykandos (no doubt during an earlier appointment). Later he went further up: he may well be the correspondent of Theophylact of Ohrid, also a member of the legal profession (droungarios tes vigles). See Theophylacti, Epistulae, 276, note 1.