(Sym)ba(tios?) imperial mandator and chartoularios of Thessalonica (ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (of indeterminate type); in the quarters: ΤΣ.|ΔΛ. No visible border.
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of (four?) lines. Wreath border.
.ΒΑ
.Β/ΜΑΝΔ/
ΑΡΤΛ/ΘΕ
ΛΟΝΙΚ/
Συμβατίῳ? βασιλικῷ μανδάτωρι καὶ χαρτουλαρίῳ Θεσσαλονίκης
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (of indeterminate type); in the quarters: ΤΣ.|ΔΛ. No visible border.
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of (four?) lines. Wreath border.
.ΒΑ
.Β/ΜΑΝΔ/
ΑΡΤΛ/ΘΕ
ΛΟΝΙΚ/
Συμβατίῳ? βασιλικῷ μανδάτωρι καὶ χαρτουλαρίῳ Θεσσαλονίκης
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.334 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 25.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 18.14. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
Κύριε or Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Συμβατίῳ βασιλικῷ μανδάτωρι καὶ χαρτουλαρίῳ Θεσσαλονίκης.
Lord or Theotokos, help your servant Symbatios (?) imperial mandator and chartoularios of Thessalonica.
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
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 1
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 2
- Silk Trade and Production in Byzantium from the Sixth to the Ninth Century: The Seals of Kommerkiarioi
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles
- Le kommerkion d'Abydos, Thessalonique et le commerce bulgare du 9e siècle
- Recherches sur les douanes à Byzance: L'octava, le "kommerkion" et les commerciares
- Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert: Faktoren und Tendenzen ihrer Entwicklung
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin, vol. 5, L’Église
- Les plus anciens recueils des miracles de Saint Démétrius et la pénétration des Slaves dans les Balkans
- L'éparque de Thessalonique: les origines d'une institution administrative (VIIIe-IXe siècles)
Commentary
Zacos-Veglery, no. 3186, published a seal of the same era with a cruciform invocative monogram on the reverse and an inscription identifying the owner as Symbatios, imperial mandator and chartoularios of Thessalonica. It is probable that the two specimens belonged to the same person (same titles; the letters ΒΑ on line 1 of our specimen), although they are from different boulloteria.