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Philommates patrikios, imperial protospatharios and strategos of the Armeniakoi (ninth/tenth century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Mother of God holding a medallion before her. Circular inscription within concentric circles of dots:

θκεRοηθτσδ/

Θ(εοτό)κε βοήθ(ει) τῷ σῷ δ(ούλῳ)

Reverse

Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.

+φιλο
.τ,πτ
ρ,R,,σπ
θ,Sστρτι
γ,τ,ρμΕ
Ν̣Ι̣̣Κ̣

Φιλο[μ]άτ(ῃ) πατρ(ικίῳ), β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) στρατιγ(ῷ) τ(ῶν) Ἀρμενιακ(ῶν)

Obverse

Bust of the Mother of God holding a medallion before her. Circular inscription within concentric circles of dots:

θκεRοηθτσδ/

Θ(εοτό)κε βοήθ(ει) τῷ σῷ δ(ούλῳ)

Reverse

Inscription of six lines. Border of dots.

+φιλο
.τ,πτ
ρ,R,,σπ
θ,Sστρτι
γ,τ,ρμΕ
Ν̣Ι̣̣Κ̣

Φιλο[μ]άτ(ῃ) πατρ(ικίῳ), β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπαθ(αρίῳ) (καὶ) στρατιγ(ῷ) τ(ῶν) Ἀρμενιακ(ῶν)

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.570
Diameter 28.0 mm; field: 21.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 4, no. 22.48.

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

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Φιλομάτῃ πατρικίῳ, βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατιγῷ τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν.

Mother of God, help your servant Philommates patrikios, imperial protospatharios and strategos of the Armeniakoi.

Commentary

The owner's name could also be Φιλο[π]άτης or, less probably for the period, Φιλόπατρις. The name Φιλομμάτης is attested in the late ninth century: he was the hikanatos who found the relic of St. Menas (see Syn. Eccl. CP, 470).

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
  • Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, Propylaeum ad AASS Novembris (Open in Zotero)
  • The Armeniac Theme and the Fate of Its Leaders (Open in Zotero)
  • Les sceaux byzantins de la Collection Henri Seyrig (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
  • Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
  • Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Ἐρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (Open in Zotero)
  • Istoriceskoe znacenie italo-greceskoj ikonopisi: Izobra zenija Bogomatera v prozvedenijah italo-greceskih ikonopiscev i ih vlijanie na kompozicii nekotoryh proslavlennyh russkih ikon (Open in Zotero)