Nikephoros (or Niketas) bishop of Tiberias (tenth century)
Obverse
Patriarchal cross (X at crossbars) mounted on a base of three steps, with fleurons rising up to the first arm. Pellet in the upper right quarter. Within a double border of dots, a circular inscription beginning at seven o’clock:
ΚΕ......ΣΟΥΛ
Κ(ύρι)ε β[οήθει τ]ῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.
ΝΙΚΗ
...ΕΠΗΣ
.ΟΠΤΙ
ΕΡΙ
Νικη[φόρ(ῳ) or Νική[τᾳ] ἐπησ[κ]όπ(ῳ) Τιβερι[άδ(ος)]
Obverse
Patriarchal cross (X at crossbars) mounted on a base of three steps, with fleurons rising up to the first arm. Pellet in the upper right quarter. Within a double border of dots, a circular inscription beginning at seven o’clock:
ΚΕ......ΣΟΥΛ
Κ(ύρι)ε β[οήθει τ]ῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.
ΝΙΚΗ
...ΕΠΗΣ
.ΟΠΤΙ
ΕΡΙ
Νικη[φόρ(ῳ) or Νική[τᾳ] ἐπησ[κ]όπ(ῳ) Τιβερι[άδ(ος)]
| Accession number | BZS 1951.31.5.1735 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 17.0 mm; field: 14.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 5 no. 17.1; Laurent, Corpus 5.2: no. 1572. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικηφόρῳ or Νικήτᾳ ἐπησκόπῳ Τιβεριάδος.
Lord help your servant, Nikephoros or Niketas, bishop of Tiberias.
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)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Located on the western bank of Lake Tiberias in Palestine, Tiberias is first attested as a bishopric in the fifth century: Laurent, Corpus 5.2:403; list of bishops in Fedalto, HEO 2:1038.
Laurent believed that the reading of the owner's name as Nikephoros was preferable to Niketas. The letters required would have filled the vacant space at the beginning of line two on the reverse, and since the prelate was a bishop, there was no need to allow a space for the abbreviated reading (ἀρχι)επισκόπῳ.
The editors of DO Seals 5 dated this to the eleventh century, but we would note as well that the obverse design, with cross on steps and tendrils rising from the base, generally dates to the mid- or late-tenth century. W. Seibt, in his review of DO Seals 5, preferred a tenth-century dating, and suggested that the owner might be the bishop of Tiberioupolis rather than Tiberias.