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Akindynos kommerkiarios of Seleukeia (eleventh century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of St. Nicholas blessing with his right hand and presumably holding a book in his left. On either side is a vertical inscription: |Ν|Ι.|.|Λ Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Νι[κό]λ(αος). Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, decorations above and below.


ΑΚΥΝΔ,
ΚΜΕΡΚ̅
ΣΕΛΕΥ̅
ΚΗΑΣ


Ἀκύνδ(υνος) κουμερκ(ιάρος) Σελευκήας.

Obverse

Bust of St. Nicholas blessing with his right hand and presumably holding a book in his left. On either side is a vertical inscription: |Ν|Ι.|.|Λ Ὁ ἅ(γιος) Νι[κό]λ(αος). Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of four lines, decorations above and below.


ΑΚΥΝΔ,
ΚΜΕΡΚ̅
ΣΕΛΕΥ̅
ΚΗΑΣ


Ἀκύνδ(υνος) κουμερκ(ιάρος) Σελευκήας.

Accession number BZS 1955.1.2187
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 6.16a. Parallel in Schlumberger, Sig., p. 271, no. 3.

Translation

Ἀκύνδυνος κουμερκιάρος Σελευκήας.

Akindynos kommerkiarios of Seleukeia.

Commentary

Under Romanos I, between 927 and 934, the kleisoura of Seleukeia was raised to the status of theme. In addition to the presence of imperial domains, managed by episkeptitai, the seals of kommerkiarioi, such as the present example, attest to connections at Seleukeia between land and sea that made it a center for the importation and distribution of silk (see Book of the Prefect, 5.1).

The bar over the upsilon on the third line of the reverse may be the lower portion of an abbreviation mark belonging to the kappa at the end of the second line. There is, however, also a bar over the kappa. While this bar does not seem to belong to the delta at the end of the first line, it is not out of the question. None of this affects the reading of the inscription.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Open in Zotero)
  • Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Le livre du préfet; ou, L’édit de l’empereur Léon le Sage sur les corporations de Constantinople (Open in Zotero)
  • Das Eparchenbuch Leons des Weisen (Open in Zotero)