John monk and hegoumenos (tenth century)
Obverse
Greek inscription in three lines with decoration below. Border of dots.
Ι
ΜΧ̄ Η
ΓΜ,
Ἰωάννης μοναχὸς καὶ ἡγούμενος
Obverse
Greek inscription in three lines with decoration below. Border of dots.
Ι
ΜΧ̄ Η
ΓΜ,
Ἰωάννης μοναχὸς καὶ ἡγούμενος
Reverse
Latin inscription in two lines. Border of dots.
IOH̄S
ABB̄S
Iohannes abbas
Accession number | BZS.1947.2.313 |
---|---|
Diameter | 22.0 mm; field: 15.0 mm |
Previous Editions | Laurent, Corpus V/2, no. 1319. |
Translation
Ἰωάννης μοναχὸς καὶ ἡγούμενος. Iohannes abbas.
John monk and hegoumenos. John abbot.
Bibliography
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This is a bilingual seal on which the Latin echoes the Greek (as abbas is the Latin equivalent of ἡγούμενος) but without stating that John is a monk. Laurent dated this seal to the sixth century and attributed the bilingualism to origins in Italy or Africa. Although in our view the lettering and abbreviations of the Greek inscription are very clearly tenth century, his suggestion that this seal comes from Byzantine Italy rings true.