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John metropolitan of Melitene and synkellos (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. John Chrysostom holding a patriarchal cross and a book. Inscription in two columns: |ιω|ο-|ο|στ,|μ, : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Ἰω(άννης) ὁ Χρ(υσ)όστ(ο)μ(ος). Circular inscription within a double border of dots, beginning at twelve o'clock:

λογοισοχρυσσκκαιγραφαισεχειφυλαξ

Λόγοις ὁ Χρυσοῦς καὶ γραφαῖς ἔχει φύλαξ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.


ιμρο

πολιτη
μελιτη
νισSσυ
γγSλ,
 

Ἰω(άννῃ) μ(ητ)ροπολίτῃ Μελιτηνῖς (καὶ) συγγ(καί)λ(λῳ)

Obverse

Bust of St. John Chrysostom holding a patriarchal cross and a book. Inscription in two columns: |ιω|ο-|ο|στ,|μ, : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Ἰω(άννης) ὁ Χρ(υσ)όστ(ο)μ(ος). Circular inscription within a double border of dots, beginning at twelve o'clock:

λογοισοχρυσσκκαιγραφαισεχειφυλαξ

Λόγοις ὁ Χρυσοῦς καὶ γραφαῖς ἔχει φύλαξ

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.


ιμρο

πολιτη
μελιτη
νισSσυ
γγSλ,
 

Ἰω(άννῃ) μ(ητ)ροπολίτῃ Μελιτηνῖς (καὶ) συγγ(καί)λ(λῳ)

Accession number BZS.1958.106.7
Diameter 33.0 mm; field: 27.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 68.9.

Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 436 (with incomplete reading of circular inscription on the obverse).

Translation

Λόγοις ὁ Χρυσοῦς καὶ γραφαῖς ἔχει φύλαξ. Ἰωάννῃ μητροπολίτῃ Μελιτηνῖς καὶ συγγκαίλλῳ.

Over my words and letters the golden-tongued saint stands guard. John, metropolitan of Melitene and synkellos.

Commentary

The legend on the obverse forms a twelve syllable verse, with a problem of syntax. The engraver seems to have erred in writing ἔχει instead of ἔστι, and our translation assumes the latter word. On the obverse, following the usual Greek phonetics, the same engraver spelt σύγκελλος with a double γγ instead of the correct γκ; this was a spelling mistake which nevertheless had exactly the same phonetic value. He rounded off his errors by using the abbreviation for (καὶ) instead of a simple ε in the last line, giving us the unusual rendering of συγγκαίλλῳ.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • L’organisation de la frontière orientale de Byzance aux Xe-XIe siècles et Le Taktikon de l’Escorial (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Kappadokien (Kappadokia, Charsianon, Sebasteia und Lykandos) (Open in Zotero)
  • Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey (Open in Zotero)
  • Crown Lands and the Defence of Imperial Authority in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)