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Maria sebaste (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Inscription of three lines beginning with a cross. Decorations above and below. Border of dots.


ΤΡΟ
ΦΗ̣..ΝΗ
ΤΝ


τροφὴ [πε]νήτων

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. A decoration above. Border of dots.


ΤΗΣΣΕ
ΡΑ..ΗΣ
ΜΑΡΙ
ΑΣ

τῆς σεβα[στ]ῆς Μαρίας

Obverse

Inscription of three lines beginning with a cross. Decorations above and below. Border of dots.


ΤΡΟ
ΦΗ̣..ΝΗ
ΤΝ


τροφὴ [πε]νήτων

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. A decoration above. Border of dots.


ΤΗΣΣΕ
ΡΑ..ΗΣ
ΜΑΡΙ
ΑΣ

τῆς σεβα[στ]ῆς Μαρίας

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.2966
Diameter 21.0 mm
Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore.

Translation

τροφὴ πενήτων τῆς σεβα[στ]ῆς Μαρίας.

The nourishment of the poor, from the sebaste Maria.

Commentary

An interesting example of a token used for the feeding of the poor sponsored by the owner. The Maria in question could have been either Maria Skleraina (the mistress of the emperor Constantine IX Monomachos) or Maria Komnene, sister of the emperor Alexios I Komnenos, elevated to the rank of sebaste after April 1081. See John W. Nesbitt, Byzantine copper tokens," SBS 1 (1987), 63-75, pp. 73-74. The inscription is metrical.