George (Nikaeus) (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Bust of the Mother of God, three quarters, raising her hands to the left, where the manus dei appears from above. Sigla to both sides: ̄θῡ: Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.
Obverse
Bust of the Mother of God, three quarters, raising her hands to the left, where the manus dei appears from above. Sigla to both sides: ̄θῡ: Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription in four lines with decorations above and below. Border of dots.
ειης
βοηθος
χε̄σγε
ργι
εἴης βοηθός, Χριστέ, σῷ Γεωργίῳ
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.4562 |
---|---|
Diameter | 21.0 mm |
Previous Editions | Cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 692; Laurent, Bulles métriques, no. 118; Schlumberger, Sigillographie, 44 n. 3. |
Translation
εἴης βοηθός, Χριστέ, σῷ Γεωργίῳ.
Christ, may you be a helper to your George.
Bibliography
- A Collection of Dated Byzantine Lead Seals (Open in Zotero)
- Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 1, Siegellegenden von Alpha bis inclusive My (Open in Zotero)
- Les bulles métriques dans la sigillographie byzantine (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Dodecasyllable. In his unpublished catalogue of the Shaw Collection, Laurent identifies the parallel of this (BZS.1947.2.1442) to be a seal of George Nikaeus, because of his signature epigram, peculiar to all of his seals, which hold a range of titles, including judge of the Boleron in 1093 (Iverites in Orthodoxia 5 (1930), 618), kouropalates, judge of the velum, and epi ton kriseon in 1112 (Oikonomides, Dated Seals, no. 111), and simply his name, as occurs on this seal and its parallels.