Paul presbyteros of the monastery of the property of Narses (seventh century)
Obverse
Cruciform monogram consisting of the letters Π, at left; Λ, at right; Α, at bottom; and an omicron-upsilon ligature, at top. Wreath border.
Παύλου
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
πρε
σβυτερ/
Μτονν
αρσ
Πρεσβυτέρου μονῆς τον Ναρσοῦ
Obverse
Cruciform monogram consisting of the letters Π, at left; Λ, at right; Α, at bottom; and an omicron-upsilon ligature, at top. Wreath border.
Παύλου
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.
πρε
σβυτερ/
Μτονν
αρσ
Πρεσβυτέρου μονῆς τον Ναρσοῦ
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4939 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 27.0 mm; field: 19.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 5 no. 47.1; Zacos–Veglery, no. 450. Laurent, Vatican, no. 169 (= Corpus 5.2: no. 1162; seventh/eighth century) seems to be from the same boulloterion, as well from the same stock of blanks. |
Translation
Παύλου πρεσβυτέρου μονῆς τον Ναρσοῦ.
(Seal of) Paul, priest of the monastery of the property of Narses.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Les sceaux byzantins du Médaillier Vatican (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Scriptores originum constantinopolitarum (Open in Zotero)
- Précisions historiques sur le monastère de Ta Narsou (Open in Zotero)
- La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, Vol. 1, Le siège de Constantinople et le patriarcat oecuménique, Pt. 3, Les églises et les monastères (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This seal demonstrates that a monastery ta Narsou existed in the seventh century. The Narses remembered here may be the praipositos whom the Patria (249) records as active in the time of Justin II and Sophia, and on whose estate there came to be erected a xenon and an gerokomeion. It was also the site of a church of the Theotokos where were deposited the relics of the martyrs Probos, Tarachos, and Andronikos (P. Gautier, "Précisions historiques sur le monastère de ta Narsou," 104). Whether the monastery of this seal is the same monastery mentioned in the eleventh- and twelfth-century sources is problematic. The quarter ta Narsou was located north of the Forum of Theodosios and on a declivity going from the area of the Bazaar down to the Golden Horn (Janin, Églises, 360).