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Leo kouboukleisios (tenth/eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of five lines, a cross of dots above. Border of pellets within concentric circles of dots.

  
ΣΦΡΑΓ,
ΛΕΟΝΤΟ,
ΕΙΜΙΚ
ΚΛΙ
Σ,

σφραγ(ὶς) Λέοντό(ς) εἰμι κουβουκλισ(ίου)

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, a cross of dots above. Border of pellets within concentric circles of dots.


ΤΑΜ
ΣΑΦΡΡ,
ΦΥΛΑΤ
ΤΕΙΠΕΝ
Ο,

τἀμοῦ ἴσα φρουρ(εῖ) (καὶ) φυλάττει πένο(ς)

Obverse

Inscription of five lines, a cross of dots above. Border of pellets within concentric circles of dots.

  
ΣΦΡΑΓ,
ΛΕΟΝΤΟ,
ΕΙΜΙΚ
ΚΛΙ
Σ,

σφραγ(ὶς) Λέοντό(ς) εἰμι κουβουκλισ(ίου)

Reverse

Inscription of five lines, a cross of dots above. Border of pellets within concentric circles of dots.


ΤΑΜ
ΣΑΦΡΡ,
ΦΥΛΑΤ
ΤΕΙΠΕΝ
Ο,

τἀμοῦ ἴσα φρουρ(εῖ) (καὶ) φυλάττει πένο(ς)

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.248
Diameter 23.0 mm; field: 21.0 mm
Previous Editions

Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 177. See also Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden II, no. 2527 (with helpful commentary on the meaning of the dodecasyllable on the reverse).

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

Translation

σφραγὶς Λέοντός εἰμι κουβουκλισίου τἀμοῦ ἴσα φρουρεῖ καὶ φυλάττει πένος.

I am the seal of Leo kouboukleisios, which preserves and protects the documents I copy and my vow of poverty. 

Commentary

The inscription is made up of two twelve-syllable verses. The meaning of the first is clear enough. The second, however, requires explanation. The kouboukleisios Leo will have been a monk (or priest and monk) whose duties included writing or copying documents. Hence the meaning of the words τἀμοῦ ἴσα, "my copies," which the seal safeguards while testifying to his role and vow of poverty (πένος) in fulfillment of his monastic vocation. The translation of the inscription goes beyond the literal to convey the sense of the second verse.

Bibliography