George archbishop of Bulgaria (ninth/tenth century?)
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.5 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 27 mm |
| Field diameter | 19 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 29.5. |
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding Christ before her. On either side, a small cross. No sigla. Circular inscription along the circumference. Border of dots.
ΘΚΕΟΗΘΤΣΔΛ
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
ΓΕ
ΡΓΙΑΡΧ
ΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠ
ΟΥΛΓΑ
ΡΙΑΣ
Γεωργίῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Βουλγαρίας
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Γεωργίῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Βουλγαρίας.
Theotokos, help your servant George archbishop of Bulgaria.
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.5 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 27 mm |
| Field diameter | 19 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 29.5. |
Bibliography
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin, vol. 5, L’Église
- Stari bŭlgarski stolit︠s︡i : Pliska, Veliki Preslav, Tŭrnovgrad
- A Collection of Dated Byzantine Lead Seals
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 2
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 1
- Patrologia Graeca
- Les duchés byzantins de Paristrion (Paradounavon) et de Bulgarie
- Bolgarija i Vizantija v XI-XII vv.
- L’évolution de l’organisation administrative de l’empire byzantin au XIe siècle (1025–1118)
- 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
Commentary
Both Laurent and Seibt assign this group of seals to the tenth century. Laurent, however, believed that this archbishop George was the predecessor of Patriarch Damian (945-972), while Seibt asserts that the series dates from the reign of Emperor John I Tzimiskes (969-976). The fact that the Virgin appears without the customary sigla seems, however, to suggest a ninth-tenth century date; see, e.g., the patriarchs Photios, Stephen I, Anthony II, and Nicholas I, who typically issued seals decorated with representations of the Virgin without any identifying inscription: Laurent, Corpus V/1, nos. 7-11, Zacos, Seals II, nos. 7-1, and DO Seals 6, § 113-115. Cf. also the imperial seals of Constantine VII and Zoe published in Zacos-Veglery, no. 64 and Oikonomides, Dated Seals, no. 57. The same date, late ninth/early tenth century, is also suggested by the inscription's elongated letters and the constant use of the angular omega. Consequently, the attribution of this seal to the archbishop of Bulgaria George, attested in 878 (Migne, PL 126, col. 760), cannot be excluded; indeed this hypothesis seems more likely.