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Pothetos kommerkiarios of Loupadion (?) (ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). In the quarters: Σ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει [τ]ῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.

ΠΟΘ
ΤΚΟΜ
ΚΙΡΙ
Π /Δ

Ποθ[η]τῳ κομ[ερ]κιαρίῳ [Λ]ουπ(α)δ[(ίου)]

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). In the quarters: Σ|ΔΛ. Wreath border.

Θεοτόκε βοήθει [τ]ῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.

ΠΟΘ
ΤΚΟΜ
ΚΙΡΙ
Π /Δ

Ποθ[η]τῳ κομ[ερ]κιαρίῳ [Λ]ουπ(α)δ[(ίου)]

Accession number BZS.1958.106.2557
Diameter 25.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 3, no. 55.2.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ποθητῳ κομερκιαρίῳ Λουπαδίου.

Mother of God, help your servant Pothetos kommerkiarios of Loupadion.

Commentary

The reading Λουπαδίου is obviously speculative.

Loupadion/Lopadion (modern Ulubad) was found to the south of the Marmara sea, on the Rhyndakos river, commanding an important bridge of the road leading from Kyzikos to the east. It had a xenodocheion, the existence of which is known to us from several sources, including many seals (cf. Sig., 246, 381; Zacos, Seals II, nos. 111, 266). Our seals show that the city was administered by an archon and that a kommerikarios probably taxed merchandise in the ninth century.

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)
  • Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)