Clement monk and higoumenos (of the monastery) of Heliou Bomon (tenth/eleventh century)
Obverse
Patriarchal cross on three steps; X at both crossings. Fleurons arise on both sides from the base to the second crossbar. Within a border of dots, the remains of a circular inscription:
+κεRοηθειτ.σωδ...
Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθει τ[ῷ] σῷ δ[ούλῳ]
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
+κλιμ,
μοναχο
.ιγουμε
.οτ,ιλη
ουRομ,
Κλίμ(εντι) μοναχο [(καὶ)] ἱγουμέ[ν]ο τ(ῶν) Ἱλήου Βομ(ῶν)
Obverse
Patriarchal cross on three steps; X at both crossings. Fleurons arise on both sides from the base to the second crossbar. Within a border of dots, the remains of a circular inscription:
+κεRοηθειτ.σωδ...
Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθει τ[ῷ] σῷ δ[ούλῳ]
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
+κλιμ,
μοναχο
.ιγουμε
.οτ,ιλη
ουRομ,
Κλίμ(εντι) μοναχο [(καὶ)] ἱγουμέ[ν]ο τ(ῶν) Ἱλήου Βομ(ῶν)
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.898 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 23.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 46.1. Cf. Laurent, Corpus V/2, no. 1250. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κλίμεντι μοναχο καὶ ἱγουμένο τῶν Ἱλήου Βομῶν.
Lord, help your servant Clement, monk and higoumenos of Heliou Bomon.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 3: West, Northwest, and Central Asia Minor and the Orient (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, vol. 2, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins (Open in Zotero)
- Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Open in Zotero)
- Studies in Byzantine Sigillography (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
In the Typikon of 1162 a newly renovated monastery, situated on the Bithynian Olympus, close to Kursunlu, is identified as Ἡλίου Βωμῶν ἤτοι τῶν Ἐλεγμῶν. This may mean that it had two names or that one name replaced the other when the community of Heliou Bomon moved to the monastery of Elegmon. The history of these names is examined in detail by Laurent, Corpus V/2, 171; especially by Janin, Grands centres, 142-48; see also ODB II, 910-11.
The monastery of Elaiobomon is attested from the ninth century on (cf. also the seal of the ninth-century higoumenos Stephanos in SBS 3 [1993] 183); the one ton Elegmon is attested from the early tenth century on. From the texts united by Janin, it appears that it often served as a place to exile the emperor's enemies so much so that one might wonder whether the name Elegmoi should not be understood as "penal convictions." The monastery of Elaiobomon also served as a place for exiles.