Theophilos, metropolitan of Tarsos and synkellos (eleventh century)
Obverse
Full figures of Sts. Peter (left) and Paul (right) greeting each other. Vertical inscription at left: |ΠΕ|Τ|.Ο. : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Πέτ[ρ]ο(ς). At right: |ΠΑ|Υ. : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Παῦ[λο(ς)]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Metrical inscription consisting of two twelve-syllable verses. Border of dots.
ΣΚΕΠΕ
ΜΕΣ̅ΕΡΣΗΝ
.ΙΔΜΟΙ
.ΑΡΙΝΤΑΡ
.ΠΡΟΕΔΡ,
ΣΥΓΚΕΛΛ
.ΕΟΦΙΛ,
Σκέπε με, Σ(ῶτ)ερ, σὴν [δ]ίδου μοι (καὶ) [χ]άριν Ταρ[σ]οῦ προέδρ(ῳ), συγκἐλλῳ [Θ]εοφίλ(ῳ).
Obverse
Full figures of Sts. Peter (left) and Paul (right) greeting each other. Vertical inscription at left: |ΠΕ|Τ|.Ο. : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Πέτ[ρ]ο(ς). At right: |ΠΑ|Υ. : Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Παῦ[λο(ς)]. Border of dots.
Reverse
Metrical inscription consisting of two twelve-syllable verses. Border of dots.
ΣΚΕΠΕ
ΜΕΣ̅ΕΡΣΗΝ
.ΙΔΜΟΙ
.ΑΡΙΝΤΑΡ
.ΠΡΟΕΔΡ,
ΣΥΓΚΕΛΛ
.ΕΟΦΙΛ,
Σκέπε με, Σ(ῶτ)ερ, σὴν [δ]ίδου μοι (καὶ) [χ]άριν Ταρ[σ]οῦ προέδρ(ῳ), συγκἐλλῳ [Θ]εοφίλ(ῳ).
| Accession number | BZS.1947.2.339 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25.0 mm; field: 19.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 5 no. 5.6; Laurent Corpus 5.2: no. 1541 (with a slightly different reading). See also Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden II, no. 1946. |
Translation
Σκέπε με, Σῶτερ, σὴν δίδου μοι καὶ χάριν Ταρσοῦ προέδρῳ, συγκἐλλῳ Θεοφίλῳ.
Saviour, watch over me, and bestow your grace on me, Theophilos, metropolitan of Tarsos and synkellos.
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)
- A Collection of Dated Byzantine Lead Seals (Open in Zotero)
- Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 2, Siegellegenden von Ny bis inklusive Sphragis (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Tarsos was the most wealthy and powerful of the towns on the Cilician plain, and following its capture by the Arabs and use as a base for raids into Byzantine territory, became the focus of Nikephoros Phokas’s eastern campaigns. The city was recaptured and was converted into an imperial kouratoreia, as well as the seat for a strategos, later under the authority of the doux of Antioch. By the end of the eleventh century, control passed into the hands of Armenian chieftains.
The reverse inscription consists of two dodecasyllabic verses. The owner of this seal is well known, and Laurent assigned his tenure as metropolitan of Tarsos to the years between 1060 and 1080. The depiction of SS Peter and Paul is a noteworthy variation on the iconography normally found on the seals of Tarsiot metropolitans, which show the apostle Paul only (cf. Laurent, Corpus 5.2: nos. 1537–40; SBS 6 [1999]: 117, 133, 142, 158, as well as BZS.1958.106.98).
Note also the mu letter-form on the third line, following the horseshoe ligature. This form is generally later: Oikonomides (Dated Lead Seals, p. 162 and epigraphic table, no. 50) put them in the last three centuries of the empire, with the form here, consisting of a straight horizontal bar, prevailing on seals from around 1250 to the end of the thirteenth century. This is likely one of the earliest instances of the letter form.