N. imperial protospatharios and strategos of Chasanara (?) .... (tenth century)
Obverse
A griffin, turned to right. Circle of pellets within a double border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription (of five lines?). Border of dots.
νο
Rˊˊσπ
τρτ
νρ
.....
...ανο... β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπ[αθαρίῳ καὶ σ]τρατ(ηγῷ) [Χασ]αναρ(ᾶ) ...
Obverse
A griffin, turned to right. Circle of pellets within a double border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription (of five lines?). Border of dots.
νο
Rˊˊσπ
τρτ
νρ
.....
...ανο... β(ασιλικῷ) (πρωτο)σπ[αθαρίῳ καὶ σ]τρατ(ηγῷ) [Χασ]αναρ(ᾶ) ...
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1904 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 28.0 mm; field: 22.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 4, no. 80.1. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
...ανο... βασιλικῷ πρωτοσπαθαρίῳ καὶ στρατηγῷ Χασαναρᾶ ...
...ano..., imperial protospatharios and strategos of Chasanara.
Commentary
Traces of letters from an understrike are observable on the obverse. At the end of the fifth line on the reverse, seemingly μ followed by a lunate letter, either an ε or σ. This could belong to a family name or to a second place-name.
The placename Χασαναρᾶ is attested in the Taktikon of Escorial and seems to be a Greek deformation of the Arabic Hisn ar-Ran, today Siverek, between Samosata and Diyarbekir. It was conquered by the Byzantines after 956 and became the seat of a small strategos before the early seventies of the Xth century. See Listes, 269, l. 7 and 362 and N. Oikonomidès, “Organisation," 291.