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N. spatharokandidatos and judge of Chaldia and of Derzene (eleventh cnetury)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. Nicholas blessing with his right hand and holding a book in his left hand. Vertical inscription on either side: |νι|κ|ο-λ|α|ο|σ : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Νικόλαος. Traces of a circular inscription along the circumference. No visible border.

Reverse

Inscription of at least five lines, a decoration below. No visible border.

σπαθα
ρ,καν
κριτ,χαλ
δια,Sδερ
ζηνησ

σπαθαρ(ο)κανδ(ι)δ(άτῳ), κριτ(ῇ) Χαλδία(ς) (καὶ) Δερζηνῆς

Obverse

Bust of St. Nicholas blessing with his right hand and holding a book in his left hand. Vertical inscription on either side: |νι|κ|ο-λ|α|ο|σ : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Νικόλαος. Traces of a circular inscription along the circumference. No visible border.

Reverse

Inscription of at least five lines, a decoration below. No visible border.

σπαθα
ρ,καν
κριτ,χαλ
δια,Sδερ
ζηνησ

σπαθαρ(ο)κανδ(ι)δ(άτῳ), κριτ(ῇ) Χαλδία(ς) (καὶ) Δερζηνῆς

Accession number BZS.1958.106.5114
Diameter 25.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 61.6.

Translation

σπαθαροκανδιδάτῳ, κριτῇ Χαλδίας καὶ Δερζηνῆς.

... spatharokandidatos and judge of Chaldia and Derzene.

Commentary

It is not clear if the name of the seal's owner was imprinted at the end of the circular inscription on the obverse or, rather, in an initial line, which we cannot see, owing to an off-center strike, on the reverse.

Modern Tercan, Derzene was on the road from Erzincan to Erzerum. The creation of this theme is attested by 948-952 (De Adm. Imp. ch. 53, l. 507; see also Commentary, 209). Cf. Listes, 241 and n. 12, 358. Our seals show that the civil administration of Derzene was often given to officials who exercised a mandate in nearby Chaldia. See also Lihacev, IZIGI, pl. VI, 14.

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)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Istoriceskoe znacenie italo-greceskoj ikonopisi: Izobra zenija Bogomatera v prozvedenijah italo-greceskih ikonopiscev i ih vlijanie na kompozicii nekotoryh proslavlennyh russkih ikon (Open in Zotero)