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Romanos metropolitan of Kyzikos and synkellos (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

The Virgin seated on a high-backed throne nursing the Child. Sigla: ̅ΘΥ̅ : Mή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Within a border of dots, a circular inscription:

+ΚΕΟΘ..ΟΕΙΣΣΕΕ.ΠΙ......ΑΤΑΙΣΧΥΝΕΤ,

Κ(ύρι)ε ὁ Θ[(εό)ς μ]ου, ὁ εἰς σὲ ἐ[λ]πί[ζων οὐ κ]αταισχύνετ(αι)

Reverse

Inscription of seven lines. Border of dots.

ΘΚΕ,Θ,
ΤΣΔΟΥ

Λ,ΡΩΜΑΝ
ΜΡΟΠΟΛΙΤΗ
ΚΥΙΚΟΥS
ΣΥΓΚΕΛ
Λ

Θ(εοτό)κε β(οή)θ(ει) τῷ σῷ δούλ(ῳ) Ῥωμανῷ μ(ητ)ροπολίτῃ Κυζίκου (καὶ) συγκέλλῳ

Obverse

The Virgin seated on a high-backed throne nursing the Child. Sigla: ̅ΘΥ̅ : Mή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Within a border of dots, a circular inscription:

+ΚΕΟΘ..ΟΕΙΣΣΕΕ.ΠΙ......ΑΤΑΙΣΧΥΝΕΤ,

Κ(ύρι)ε ὁ Θ[(εό)ς μ]ου, ὁ εἰς σὲ ἐ[λ]πί[ζων οὐ κ]αταισχύνετ(αι)

Reverse

Inscription of seven lines. Border of dots.

ΘΚΕ,Θ,
ΤΣΔΟΥ

Λ,ΡΩΜΑΝ
ΜΡΟΠΟΛΙΤΗ
ΚΥΙΚΟΥS
ΣΥΓΚΕΛ
Λ

Θ(εοτό)κε β(οή)θ(ει) τῷ σῷ δούλ(ῳ) Ῥωμανῷ μ(ητ)ροπολίτῃ Κυζίκου (καὶ) συγκέλλῳ

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.707
Diameter 30.0 mm
Previous Editions

DOSeals 3: 53.8. Cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 1163c (listing other editions).

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

Translation

Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ὁ εἰς σὲ ἐλπίζων οὐ καταισχύνεται. Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ῥωμανῷ μητροπολίτῃ Κυζίκου καὶ συγκέλλῳ.

The Lord my God, the man who places his hope in You is not disappointed. Mother of God, help your servant Romanos, metropolitan of Kyzikos and synkellos.

Commentary

The obverse inscription visible on the Zacos specimen (Seals II, no. 879) allows us to rectify the erroneous reading and restitution of Lihačev (IZIGI, 163) and Laurent, who suggested ἀποτυγχάνει instead of καταισχύνεται. The owner was likely Romanos of Kyzikos who signed a synodal document of 1072, specifically identifying himself as a synkellos (Oikonomides, "Un décret," 57). He was succeeded by Symeon who occupied the throne in 1079. For the uncommon representation of the Virgin, see A. Cutler, "The Cult of the Galaktotrophousa in Byzantium and Italy," JÖB 37 (1987), 335-50.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 3: West, Northwest, and Central Asia Minor and the Orient (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Istoriceskoe znacenie italo-greceskoj ikonopisi: Izobra zenija Bogomatera v prozvedenijah italo-greceskih ikonopiscev i ih vlijanie na kompozicii nekotoryh proslavlennyh russkih ikon (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Un décret synodal inédit du patriarche Jean VIII Xiphilin (Open in Zotero)
  • Kleinasiatische Ortsnamen (Open in Zotero)
  • Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
  • Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, Vol. 1, Siegellegenden von Alpha bis inclusive My (Open in Zotero)