Nikephoros imperial kandidatos and dioiketes of Bithynia (tenth century)
Obverse
Patriarchal cross (X at crossing) on three steps and fleurons (up to first arm). In each of the upper cantons, rosaces. Along the indeterminate border circular inscription.
+ΚΕΟΗΘΕΙΤΣΔΟΥΛ
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Indeterminate border.
+ΝΙΚΙ
ΦΡ/
ΚΝ/
ΙΥΚΗΤΙ
ΘΥΝΙΣ
Νικιφώρῳ βασιλικῷ κανδιδάτῳ καὶ διυκητῖ βιθυνίας
Obverse
Patriarchal cross (X at crossing) on three steps and fleurons (up to first arm). In each of the upper cantons, rosaces. Along the indeterminate border circular inscription.
+ΚΕΟΗΘΕΙΤΣΔΟΥΛ
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Indeterminate border.
+ΝΙΚΙ
ΦΡ/
ΚΝ/
ΙΥΚΗΤΙ
ΘΥΝΙΣ
Νικιφώρῳ βασιλικῷ κανδιδάτῳ καὶ διυκητῖ βιθυνίας
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.1563 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 20.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 76.2. |
Translation
Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νικιφώρῳ βασιλικῷ κανδιδάτῳ καὶ διυκητῖ βιθυνίας.
Lord, help your servant Nikephoros, imperial kandidatos and dioiketes of Bithynia.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantinische Bleisiegel in Berlin (West) (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Long ago Mordtmann and Sakellion published and discussed a seal of a certain Nikephoros dioiketes of Thynia. See Ἐλλ. Φιλο. Σύλλ. 7 (1872-73) 298 and 13 παράρτημα (1880) 43. Note that the name of the Roman province Bithynia survived in the financial administrative vocabulary well into the tenth century, and was always distinguished from the neighboring Thynia (on the coast from the gulf of Nikomedeia to the estuary of the Sangarios, certainly including Chalcedon: cf. Zacos-Veglery, nos. 253, 3161 to which add Speck, Bleisiegel, no. 152). A general survey: R. Janin, "La Bithynie sous l'Empire byzantin," EO 20 (1021) 168-82, 301-19.