Skip to Content

Neophytos archbishop of Derkoi (ninth/tenth century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin holding Christ befoer her. On either side a cross. Circular inscription along border of dots.

θκεοηθειτσδουλ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines preceded and followed by decoration. Border of dots.


νεοφ
υταρχι
επισκοπ/
.ε.κν

Νεοφύτῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπ Δέρκων

Obverse

Bust of the Virgin holding Christ befoer her. On either side a cross. Circular inscription along border of dots.

θκεοηθειτσδουλ

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines preceded and followed by decoration. Border of dots.


νεοφ
υταρχι
επισκοπ/
.ε.κν

Νεοφύτῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπ Δέρκων

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4709
Diameter 25.0 mm; field: 19.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 1, no. 75.1.
Laurent, Corpus V/3, no. 1817.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Νεοφύτῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Δέρκων.

Theotokos, help your servant Neophytos archbishop of Derkoi.

Commentary

Although the first part of the see's name is lightly imprinted, it is clear that the initial letter is either Δ, Λ, or Α and that the second letter is Ε, Ο, or Θ. Laurent notes that two archbishops of Derkos were present at the Photian synod of 879/80, a Makarios and a Neophytos, and reasonably attributes this seal to the latter, who was a partisan of Photios. Cf. Asdracha, Thrace orientale, 287.

This archiepiscopal see was located near Constantinople in eastern Thrace at the site of modern Terkos. The date of the episcopate's establishment is unknown, but it is clear that it was functioning in the eighth century: an archbishop of Derkos is attested at the council of 787. Cf. Laurent , Corpus V/3, 459 and Asdracha, Thrace orientale, 241-42, 287-88.

Bibliography

  • 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 (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • La Thrace Orientale et La Mer Noire: Géographie Ecclésiastique et Prosopographie (VIIIe-XIIe Siècles) (Open in Zotero)