Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118)
Obverse
Christ seated on a high-back throne. The upper portion is decorated at left and right with pellets set within serpentine columns. He wears a tunic and himation and holds the right hand in blessing and in the left a book. His feet rest on a dais. He has a nimbus cruciger; each arm contains a decoration consisting of one pellet. Sigla at left and right: Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Border of dots.
Reverse
The emperor Alexios I bearded standing to front on a dais, wearing a crown and a loros, one end of which is draped over his left. wrist and decorated with six dots. He holds in the right hand a labarum and in the left a globus cruciger. Circular inscription, beginning at 7:30. Border of dots.
αλειωδποττωκομν,
Ἀλεξίῳ δ(εσ)πότ(ῃ) τῷ Κομνην(ῷ).
Obverse
Christ seated on a high-back throne. The upper portion is decorated at left and right with pellets set within serpentine columns. He wears a tunic and himation and holds the right hand in blessing and in the left a book. His feet rest on a dais. He has a nimbus cruciger; each arm contains a decoration consisting of one pellet. Sigla at left and right: Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Border of dots.
Reverse
The emperor Alexios I bearded standing to front on a dais, wearing a crown and a loros, one end of which is draped over his left. wrist and decorated with six dots. He holds in the right hand a labarum and in the left a globus cruciger. Circular inscription, beginning at 7:30. Border of dots.
αλειωδποττωκομν,
Ἀλεξίῳ δ(εσ)πότ(ῃ) τῷ Κομνην(ῷ).
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.611 (formerly DO 58.106.611) |
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Diameter | 31.0 mm; field: 28.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 6, no. 88.4; Zacos–Veglery no. 102b; For a similar specimen from a different boulloterion; see Jordanov, "Melnitsa" 24, no. 2. |
Translation
Ἀλεξίῳ δεσπότῃ τῷ Κομνηνῷ.
Alexios Komnenos, despot.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 6, Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Seals from the Village of Melnitsa (District of Elkhovo, Bulgaria) (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The emperor's name seems to involve a ligature of N and H. The emperor's face is much longer and fuller than on BZS.1958.106.518.