Constantine metropolitan of Chonai (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of St. Michael holding a scepter in his right hand and globus in his left hand. Vertical inscription: χ-μ|χ : [Ἀρ]χ(άγγελος) Μ(ι)χ(αήλ). Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, decorations above and below. Border of dots.
– –
+κν
.τ.ντι
.ητροπ,
χν
– –
Κων[σ]τ[α]ντί[ν(ῳ)] [μ]ητροπ(ολίτῃ) Χωνῶ[ν]
Obverse
Bust of St. Michael holding a scepter in his right hand and globus in his left hand. Vertical inscription: χ-μ|χ : [Ἀρ]χ(άγγελος) Μ(ι)χ(αήλ). Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of four lines, decorations above and below. Border of dots.
– –
+κν
.τ.ντι
.ητροπ,
χν
– –
Κων[σ]τ[α]ντί[ν(ῳ)] [μ]ητροπ(ολίτῃ) Χωνῶ[ν]
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.144 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 20.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 12.1b. Laurent, Corpus V/2, no. 1589. |
Translation
Κωνσταντίνῳ μητροπολίτῃ Χωνῶν.
Constantine, metropolitan of Chonai.
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
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin, vol. 5, L’Église
- Σύνταγμα τῶν θείων καὶ ἱερῶν κανόνων I-VI
- Erlasse des Patriarchen von Konstantinopel Alexios Studites
Commentary
This seal and BZS.1958.106.144 appear to be from the same boulloterion.
A metropolitan of Chonai Constantine who assisted the patriarchal synod between 1028 and 1039 (Rhallès-Potlès V, 32, 36; Ficker, Erlasse, 20, 26, 42) may have been the owner of the present seal.
Chonai (modern Honaz) was built in the eighth century near ancient Colossae by the inhabitants of this city. Thus the bishop of Colossai, a suffragan of Laodikeia, was renamed bishop of Chonai (first attested in 787). The see was raised to archbishopric under Photios (slightly before 860) and became a metropolis before 945. See Laurent, Corpus V/2, 421-22 (add Zacos, Seals II, no. 575); ODB I, 427.
The city has become famous for a miracle performed by St. Michael, and it is only natural to find this archangel depicted on the few known seals of its metropolitans. The sanctuary seems also to have issued amulets to protect from trickery: see Zacos, Seals II, no. 575.