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Gabriel, brother of the archbishop of Bulgaria and bishop of Belebouzdion (twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of five lines, cross above. Border of dots.


ΣΚΕΠΟΙ.
ΓΑΡΙΗΛ
.ΕΛΕΣ
ΔΙΘΗΤ
ΗΝ

Σκέποις Γαβριὴλ Βελεβουσδίου θήτην

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

ΤΠΟΙ
ΜΕΝΑΡΧ
ΣΥΓΓΟΝΟΝ
ΛΓΑΡΙ
ΑΣ

τοῦ ποιμενάρχου σύγγονον Βουλγαρίας

Obverse

Inscription of five lines, cross above. Border of dots.


ΣΚΕΠΟΙ.
ΓΑΡΙΗΛ
.ΕΛΕΣ
ΔΙΘΗΤ
ΗΝ

Σκέποις Γαβριὴλ Βελεβουσδίου θήτην

Reverse

Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

ΤΠΟΙ
ΜΕΝΑΡΧ
ΣΥΓΓΟΝΟΝ
ΛΓΑΡΙ
ΑΣ

τοῦ ποιμενάρχου σύγγονον Βουλγαρίας

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.215
Diameter 19.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 31.1.
Laurent, Corpus V/2, no. 1502. See also Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden II, no. 2006.

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

Translation

Σκέποις Γαβριὴλ Βελεβουσδίου θήτην, τοῦ ποιμενάρχου σύγγονον Βουλγαρίας.

May you protect Gabriel, bishop of Belebousdion, brother of the archbishop of Bulgaria.

Commentary

The inscription consists of two twelve-syllable verses. Gabriel is unknown from other sources. Laurent hypothesized that he might be a relative of the archbishop of Ohrid Constantine, attested in 1170. But the epigraphy, especially the ligature , points to an earlier date, before the middle of the twelfth century.

Belebouzdion, the Slavic name of modern Köstendil, was a suffragan bishopric of Ohrid. Cf. Laurent, Corpus V/2, 329.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 2, Siegellegenden von Ny bis inklusive Sphragis (Open in Zotero)