Kosmas apo hypaton and kommerkiarios of the apotheke of First Armenia (690/1)
Obverse
Justinian II standing frontally, bearded, wearing a chlamys and holding a globus. Indiction signs on either side: -δ. On the right, remains of a circular inscription, beginning at one o'clock. No visible border.
.οσμ..
[Κ]οσμᾶ [απὸ]
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. No visible border.
...
μερκι
ριουπο
.ηκισ̅
ρμενι
.σ
[ὑπάτων καὶ κομ]μερκιαρίου ἀπο[θ]ήκις αˊ Ἀρμενί[α]ς
Obverse
Justinian II standing frontally, bearded, wearing a chlamys and holding a globus. Indiction signs on either side: -δ. On the right, remains of a circular inscription, beginning at one o'clock. No visible border.
.οσμ..
[Κ]οσμᾶ [απὸ]
Reverse
Inscription of six lines. No visible border.
...
μερκι
ριουπο
.ηκισ̅
ρμενι
.σ
[ὑπάτων καὶ κομ]μερκιαρίου ἀπο[θ]ήκις αˊ Ἀρμενί[α]ς
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.679 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 33.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 74.2. Zacos-Veglery, no. 162 (partly deciphered; dated 687/88). |
Translation
Ἰνδικτιὼν δˊ. Κοσμᾶ απὸ ὑπάτων καὶ κομμερκιαρίου ἀποθήκις αˊ Ἀρμενίας.
Indiction 4. Kosmas apo hypaton and kommerkiarios of the apotheke of First Armenia.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Zacos-Veglery mistakenly read the indiction date as alpha and did not decipher the owner’s name.
The fourth indiction combined with the solitary standing emperor dates the seal securely to the year 690/691 (in the following years corresponding to a fourth indiction two emperors are represented on the seals of kommerkiarioi, Justinian I with Tiberios in 705/706 and Leo III with Constantine V in 720/721). The kommerkiarios Kosmas apo hypaton is well attested in that period (Zacos-Veglery I, 147-148, table 4); we restore the inscription following his other seals.
The term Armenia is used to designate the Roman provinces of that name.