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(The monastery of) the Prodromos in the quarter of Petra (eleventh/twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of three lines. Border of dots.

σφρα
γιστ
προ

Σφραγὶς τοῦ Προ

Reverse

Inscription of three lines. Border of dots.

δρομ,
τισπε
τρασ

δρόμ(ου) τῖς Πέτρας

Obverse

Inscription of three lines. Border of dots.

σφρα
γιστ
προ

Σφραγὶς τοῦ Προ

Reverse

Inscription of three lines. Border of dots.

δρομ,
τισπε
τρασ

δρόμ(ου) τῖς Πέτρας

Accession number BZS.1958.106.354
Diameter 18.0 mm; field: 15.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 44.1; Laurent, Corpus 5.3: no. 1913.

Translation

Σφραγὶς τοῦ Προδρόμου τῖς Πέτρας.

Seal of (the monastery of) the Prodromos in the quarter of Petra.

Commentary

Although the monastery of St. John Prodromos τῆς Πέτρας was a major monastic establishment in the capital, little information about it has come down to us. According to tradition its founder was an Egyptian monk named Baras, who lived at the capital during the reign of Theodosios the Great. John Mauropous was a monk and archdeacon of the monastery before becoming metropolitan of Euchaita. See R. Janin, "Les sanctuaires du quartier du Pétra (Constantinople)," ÉO 35 (1936): 55–62. According to Janin the monastery was sited near the cistern of Aetios: Janin, Églises, 421–29. We note that Laurent published (in Corpus 5.3: no. 1912) two seals of Dumbarton Oaks that he attributes to the monastery of St. John Prodromos, but since the geographical designation on these specimens consists only of the phrase ἡ τοῦ Προδρόμου, we have preferred to assign these specimens to a church or monastery of unknown location. Cf. E. Malamut, "Le monastère Saint-Jean-Prodrome de Pétra de Constantinople," in Le sacré et son inscription dans l'espace à Byzance et en Occident: Études comparées, ed. M. Kaplan, Byzantina Sorbonensia 18 (Paris, 2001), 223–25.

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)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (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)
  • Les sanctuaires du quartier de Pétra (Constantinople) (fin) (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Monastère Saint-Jean-Prodrome de Pétra de Constantinople (Open in Zotero)