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Leo bishop of Pyrgion (eleventh/twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin holding the medallion of Christ before her. On either side the inscription: μ-θ : Μ(ήτηρ) Θ(εοῦ). Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

+λεο
ντ,ελαχ
ιστ,επισ
κοππυρ
γι

Λέοντ(ος) ἐλαχίστ(ου) ἐπισκόπ(ου) Πυργίου

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin holding the medallion of Christ before her. On either side the inscription: μ-θ : Μ(ήτηρ) Θ(εοῦ). Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

+λεο
ντ,ελαχ
ιστ,επισ
κοππυρ
γι

Λέοντ(ος) ἐλαχίστ(ου) ἐπισκόπ(ου) Πυργίου

Accession number BZS.1958.106.55
Diameter 21.0 mm; field: 16.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 31.1.

Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 296.

Translation

Λέοντος ἐλαχίστου ἐισκόπου Πυργίου.

(Seal of) Leo, the most humble bishop of Pyrgion.

Commentary

Pyrgion is the modern Birgi at the foot of the Tmolos. The see was first named Dios Hieron, later (seventh century) Christoupolis, and finally Pyrgion, with this name appearing first on seals and only in the late twelfth century in literary sources. Its first known bishop is attested in 451. It was a suffragan of Ephesos, until the late twelfth century, when it was raised to the status of metropolis. Conquered by the Turks in 1307, it became the capital of the emirate of Aydin. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 207-8; Culerrier, Suffragants d'Ephèse, 155 (episcopal list).

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)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Les évêchés suffragants d’Ephèse aux 5e-13e siècles (Open in Zotero)