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Leo Kastamonites (twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription in five lines. Border of dots.

ΕΝΣΟΙ
ΠΕΠΟΙΘΣ
ΚΑΣΤΑΜΟ
ΝΙΤΗΣΛΕ
Ν

ἐν σοὶ πεποιθὼς Κασταμονίτης Λέων

Reverse

Inscription in four lines. Border of dots.

..
ΧΟΙΕΝ
ΧΕ̅ΥΧΙΚ
ΣΡΙ̅ΑΣ

[τύ]χοιεν, Χ(ριστ)έ, ψυχικ(ῆς) σ(ωτη)ρίας

Obverse

Inscription in five lines. Border of dots.

ΕΝΣΟΙ
ΠΕΠΟΙΘΣ
ΚΑΣΤΑΜΟ
ΝΙΤΗΣΛΕ
Ν

ἐν σοὶ πεποιθὼς Κασταμονίτης Λέων

Reverse

Inscription in four lines. Border of dots.

..
ΧΟΙΕΝ
ΧΕ̅ΥΧΙΚ
ΣΡΙ̅ΑΣ

[τύ]χοιεν, Χ(ριστ)έ, ψυχικ(ῆς) σ(ωτη)ρίας

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1437
Diameter 27.0 mm
Previous Editions

Cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 743.

Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore.

Translation

Ἐν σοὶ πεποιθὼς Κασταμονίτης Λέων τύχοιεν, Χριστέ, ψυχικῆς σωτηρίας.

May Leo Kastamonites, who has placed his trust in you, Christ, gain the salvation of his soul.

Commentary

Dodecasyllabic. Several other seals in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and the Fogg Museum, linked below, bear the name of Leo Kastamonites. Katsaros (Iōannēs Kastamonitēs, p. 134-38) dates them all to the eleventh or twelfth century. There is not enough evidence, however, to determine whether they belonged to the same individual.

Bibliography

  • Iōannēs Kastamonitēs: symvolē stē meletē tou viou, tou ergou kai tēs epochēs tou (Open in Zotero)
  • Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 1, Siegellegenden von Alpha bis inclusive My (Open in Zotero)