Niketas Anzas, chartoularios of the West (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding Christ. On the left, the sigla: Μ̅Ρ : Μ(ήτη)ρ [Θ(εο)ῦ]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. No visible border.
ΘΚΕΟ.
...ΤΣ
..ΙΚΗΤΑ
.ΑΡΤ ΤΗΣ
.ΥΣΕΣΤ
ΑΝ.
Θ(εοτό)κε βο[ήθ(ει)] τῷ σῷ δούλῳ [Ν]ικήτᾳ [χ]αρτου(λαρίῳ) τῆς [Δ]ύσεως τῷ Ἀνζ[ᾷ]
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding Christ. On the left, the sigla: Μ̅Ρ : Μ(ήτη)ρ [Θ(εο)ῦ]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. No visible border.
ΘΚΕΟ.
...ΤΣ
..ΙΚΗΤΑ
.ΑΡΤ ΤΗΣ
.ΥΣΕΣΤ
ΑΝ.
Θ(εοτό)κε βο[ήθ(ει)] τῷ σῷ δούλῳ [Ν]ικήτᾳ [χ]αρτου(λαρίῳ) τῆς [Δ]ύσεως τῷ Ἀνζ[ᾷ]
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.2666 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1: no. 1.8; Nesbitt and Seibt, “Anzas Family,” 200–201, fig. 13a |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικήτᾳ χαρτουλαρίῳ τῆς Δύσεως τῷ Ἀνζᾷ.
Theotokos, help your servant Niketas Anzas chartoularios of the West.
Bibliography
- Actes d’Iviron (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- The Anzas Family: Members of the Byzantine Civil Administration in the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Centuries (Open in Zotero)
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This is undoubtedly the same Niketas Anzas who was responsible for affairs in the West and who, as magistros, judge of the Velum, and chartoularios of the genikon, signed (after December 1098 and before December 1103) the abstract of a fiscal register concerning Radolibos in the dioikesis of Boleron and Strymon (in the theme of Strymon, the region of Zabaltia); Iviron 2, no. 48. Laurent published two specimens from the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Corpus 2, no. 350), but these belonged to a much earlier Niketas Anzas protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou, judge of the Hippodrome, and grand chartoularios.
The meaning of the word “West” here is uncertain; it is possible that it referred to the whole of the West or to just some part. In essence, the meaning of the term Δύσις when used on seals is fluid. The only relatively obvious certainty is that it always refers to some territory in the Balkans.
Four seals of this type are known: two in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (this specimen and BZS.1947.2.2103), one in Athens (no. 336; C. Stavrakos, Byzantinischen Bleisiegel mit Familiennamen, no. 15), and one in the former Zacos Collection (unpublished).