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Nicholas Akapnes, (judge of Hellas) and mystolektes (eleventh century, second half)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St Nicholas; details indistinct. Traces of an inscription on either side: .|ν|ι|κλ|α|οσ : [ὁ ἅ(γιος)] Νικ(ό)λαος. Illegible remnants of a circular inscription along the circumference within concentric borders of dots.

[τὸν σὸν δικαστὴν Ἑλλάδος, μἀκαρ, σκέποις]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines beginning with a cross. Border of dots.

το.
μυστολε
κ̣Την̣Ν̣Ικο̣
Λονκ
πνην

τὸ[ν] μυστολέκτην Νικόλαον Ἀκάπνην

Obverse

Bust of St Nicholas; details indistinct. Traces of an inscription on either side: .|ν|ι|κλ|α|οσ : [ὁ ἅ(γιος)] Νικ(ό)λαος. Illegible remnants of a circular inscription along the circumference within concentric borders of dots.

[τὸν σὸν δικαστὴν Ἑλλάδος, μἀκαρ, σκέποις]

Reverse

Inscription of five lines beginning with a cross. Border of dots.

το.
μυστολε
κ̣Την̣Ν̣Ικο̣
Λονκ
πνην

τὸ[ν] μυστολέκτην Νικόλαον Ἀκάπνην

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.1591
Diameter 27.0 mm
Previous Editions

This seal should be added to the section presenting seals of officials in the theme of Hellas in DO Seals 2.

Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore.

Translation

τὸν σὸν δικαστὴν Ἑλλάδος, μἀκαρ, σκέποις τὸν μυστολέκτην Νικόλαον Ἀκάπνην.

Blessed One, may you protect your servant Nicholas Akapnes, judge of Hellas and mystolektes.

Commentary

The first part of this metrical inscription is illegible but the full reading can be restored with reference to a better preserved parallel. For this and other seals of Nicholas Akapnes, an official active in the third quarter of the eleventh century, see PBW : Nikolaos 20149.