Basil metropolitan of Keltzene (eleventh century)
Obverse
The Mother of God standing, holding Christ on her right arm. Sigla: ̅-θ̅υ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Circular inscription, beginning at seven o'clock. Border of dots.
+θκεRοηθ,-τσδουλ,
Θ(εοτόκ)ε βοήθ(ει) τῷ σῷ δούλ(ῳ)
Obverse
The Mother of God standing, holding Christ on her right arm. Sigla: ̅-θ̅υ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Circular inscription, beginning at seven o'clock. Border of dots.
+θκεRοηθ,-τσδουλ,
Θ(εοτόκ)ε βοήθ(ει) τῷ σῷ δούλ(ῳ)
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, a decoration above. Border of dots.
– –
.Rασιλ,
..αχιστ
..Ο̅πολιΤ
..ατη
νησ-
Βασιλ(είῳ) [ἐλ]αχίστῳ [μ(ητ)ρ]οπολίτ(ῃ) [Κε]λτζηνῆς
Accession number | BZS.1947.2.51 |
---|---|
Diameter | 25.0 mm; field: 22.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 66.1. See also Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 812 (listed as Shaw Coll. no. 1131). |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Βασιλείῳ ἐλαχίστῳ μητροπολίτῃ Κελτζηνῆς.
Mother of God, help your servant Basil, most humble metropolitan of Keltzene.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 4: The East (Open in Zotero)
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Open in Zotero)
- Die Ostgrenze des byzantinischen Reiches: von 363 bis 1071 nach griechischen, arabischen, syrischen und armenischen Quellen (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
As Laurent has noted, Basil of Keltzene is attested in 1071 and 1072.
Keltzene (today Erzincan) was a tourma of the theme of Mesopotamia and encompassed the area north of the Euphrates, bordered on its eastern side by Derzene. As an ecclesiastical province, Keltzene is first listed as a bishopric of Kamacha, but is later listed as a metropolis (combined with Kortzene and Taron) with eight suffragans (Darrouzès, Notitiae, no. 10, l. 702-712; see also Honigmann, Ostgrenze, 198-210), a rank which Keltzene reached in the late Xth or early XIth century and kept until the Seljuk invasions. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 627. See also Sinclair II, 426 ff.