Theophylaktos Hagiozacharites, patrikios and strategos of Samos (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of a bearded saint, wearing a luxurious chlamys and a curious oriental headpiece and holding (l. hand) a round decorated box, with a crosslet on top of its cover. Vertical inscription: Ο|Α|ΓΙ|Ο,..|..|Α (or Λ, or Δ): ὁ ἅγιος Ζαχαρίας, see below. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines preceded and followed by an ornament. Border of dots.
.ΕΟΦΥΛ,
..ΤΡΙΚΙ,
.ΤΡΑ,ΤΓ,ΣΑ
ΜΟΑΓΙΟ
ΖΑΧΑΡ
Θεοφύλακτος πατρίκιος καὶ στρατηγὸς Σάμου ὁ Ἁγιοζαχαρίτης
Obverse
Bust of a bearded saint, wearing a luxurious chlamys and a curious oriental headpiece and holding (l. hand) a round decorated box, with a crosslet on top of its cover. Vertical inscription: Ο|Α|ΓΙ|Ο,..|..|Α (or Λ, or Δ): ὁ ἅγιος Ζαχαρίας, see below. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines preceded and followed by an ornament. Border of dots.
.ΕΟΦΥΛ,
..ΤΡΙΚΙ,
.ΤΡΑ,ΤΓ,ΣΑ
ΜΟΑΓΙΟ
ΖΑΧΑΡ
Θεοφύλακτος πατρίκιος καὶ στρατηγὸς Σάμου ὁ Ἁγιοζαχαρίτης
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.3050 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 29.0 mm; field: 24.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 44.13. |
Translation
Θεοφύλακτος πατρίκιος καὶ στρατηγὸς Σάμου ὁ Ἁγιοζαχαρίτης.
Theophylaktos Hagiozacharites, patrikios and strategos of Samos.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor (Open in Zotero)
- Pechatite ot strategii︠a︡ta v Preslav, 971-1088 (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Mosaics in Greece: Hosios Lucas and Daphni (Open in Zotero)
- Samos in frühchristlicher und byzantinischer Zeit (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
- Βυζαντιακὰ μολυβδόβουλλα τοῦ ἐν ἈΘήναις Ἐθνικοῦ Νομισματικοῦ Μουσείου (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (Open in Zotero)
- Monumenta Latrensia Hagiographica (Open in Zotero)
- Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Open in Zotero)
- Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
On line three of the reverse, the engraver misplaced the abbreviation sign before (instead of after) the letter Τ. As for the iconography on the obverse, we are inclined to identify the saint represented as St. Zacharias, the father of St. John the Baptist (i.e., the Prophet). In the mosaics of Daphni the Prophets Zacharias and Aaron as well as one of the three magi are represented with this same oriental headpiece and holding a pyxis (see E. Diez and O. Demus, Byzantine Mosaics in Greece: Hosios Lucas and Daphni [Cambridge, Mass., 1931], pl. nos. 72, 73, and 83). The headpiece also appears on the mosaic of St. Daniel (ibid., pl. 57). Of these, St. Zacharias is the only possible candidate: his name has an Α toward the end to correspond to the A of the vertical inscription at right and one would expect him to be represented on the seal of a man called Hagiozacharites, obviously because he came from a place called Hagios Zacharias.