John Kostomyres, proedros (?), dishypatos and judge of the Cycladic Islands (eleventh century)
Obverse
Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.
σφ..
γ,Ι̅πρ...
δισυπα..
κρ.τ
Σφραγὶς Ἰωάννου προέδρου or ώτου? δισυπάτου, καὶ κριτοῦ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines; final letter flanked by two horizontal bars. Border of dots.
.νκυ
..αδν
...ντ
..ομυ
ρ,
τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων τοῦ Κωστομύρη
Obverse
Inscription of four lines. Border of dots.
σφ..
γ,Ι̅πρ...
δισυπα..
κρ.τ
Σφραγὶς Ἰωάννου προέδρου or ώτου? δισυπάτου, καὶ κριτοῦ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines; final letter flanked by two horizontal bars. Border of dots.
.νκυ
..αδν
...ντ
..ομυ
ρ,
τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων τοῦ Κωστομύρη
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1927 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 21.0 mm; field: 16.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 42.3. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
Σφραγὶς Ἰωάννου προέδρου/ώτου δισυπάτου, καὶ κριτοῦ τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων τοῦ Κωστομύρη.
Seal of John Kostomyres proedros (or protos) dishypatos, and judge of the Cycladic Islands.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
- L’évolution de l’organisation administrative de l’empire byzantin au XIe siècle (1025–1118) (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Molivdovuly grečeskogo Vostoka (Open in Zotero)
- Corinth, Vol. 12, The Minor Objects (Open in Zotero)
- Patmiakē Vivliothēkē: ētoi neos katalogos tōn cheirographōn kōdikōn tēs Hieras Monēs Hagiou Iōannou tou Theologou Patmou (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
At the end of the third line of the observe there is space for three letters, the second of which seems to have a straight horizontal bar at the top: thus the expected reading προέδρου seems difficult; but it should be noted that two seals in the DO collection attest a John Kostomyres, proedros. See PBW: Ioannes 20351.
Another possibility is πρώτου, that is, the first dishypatos, a title similar to protoproedros, etc. (Oikonomides, Évolution, 126); but we do not know of any other instance of a protodishypatos.
We know the eleventh-century seal of a John Konstomyres, protovestarches, imperial notarios and symponos (Laurent, Corpus II, no. 1084.