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Theodore bishop of Serres (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. Theodore Stratelates holding the martyr's cross before him. Traces of epigraphy: ο|θε|ο|ρ|ο|στ|ρ : ὁ [ἅγιος] Θεόδ[ω]ρ(ος) ὁ Στρ[ατηλάτης]. Within a double border of dots, a circular inscription beginning at twelve o'clock.

Μ̣...............ννυμονθΥ̣τ

ἄμ[φω σκέποιτε τὸν συ]νώνυμον θύτ(ην)

Reverse

Bust of St. Theodore Tiron holding the martyr's cross before him. Epigraphy at right: ο|τι|ρΟ|ν : ὁ Τίρον. Within a double border of dots, a circular inscription beginning at twelve o'clock.

σφργ,προερ................̣

σφραγὶς προέδρ[ου τῶν Σερρῶν Θεοδώρ]ου

Obverse

Bust of St. Theodore Stratelates holding the martyr's cross before him. Traces of epigraphy: ο|θε|ο|ρ|ο|στ|ρ : ὁ [ἅγιος] Θεόδ[ω]ρ(ος) ὁ Στρ[ατηλάτης]. Within a double border of dots, a circular inscription beginning at twelve o'clock.

Μ̣...............ννυμονθΥ̣τ

ἄμ[φω σκέποιτε τὸν συ]νώνυμον θύτ(ην)

Reverse

Bust of St. Theodore Tiron holding the martyr's cross before him. Epigraphy at right: ο|τι|ρΟ|ν : ὁ Τίρον. Within a double border of dots, a circular inscription beginning at twelve o'clock.

σφργ,προερ................̣

σφραγὶς προέδρ[ου τῶν Σερρῶν Θεοδώρ]ου

Accession number BZS.1947.2.1903
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

Cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 95.

Translation

ἄμφω σκέποιτε τὸν συνώνυμον θύτην. σφραγὶς προέδρου τῶν Σερρῶν Θεοδώρου.

May you both protect the priest who shares your name. Seal of Theodore, bishop of Serres.

Commentary

Two twelve-syllable inscriptions encircling portraits of saints on either side make this an interesting seal. The corrosion of the inscription on the reverse removed the place-name which has been restored with reference to the parallels listed by Wassiliou-Seibt in her entry noted above. This specimen should thus be added to the seals from Serres edited in DO Seals 1, section 42.

Note also the closely contemporary seal of Stephanos, monk and metropolitan of Serres, which shows the same pattern of an inscription encircling portraits of Saints Demetrios and Theodore; see Oikonomides, Dated Seals, no. 96.

Bibliography

  • Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 1, Siegellegenden von Alpha bis inclusive My (Open in Zotero)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)