John (?) apo eparchon (?) and kommerkiarios (sixth century)

Commentary

The two block monograms on this seal cannot be certainly resolved, as there are too many possible satisfactory resolutions. The obverse contains a complex monogram, likely with a name and either the office of eparch (ἐπάρχου) or the title of apo eparchon (ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων); the most likely resolution is John apo eparchon, so that reading has been chosen here. However, other possible resolutions include John eparch, and Peter apo eparchon. While the obverse monogram looks very similar to the reverse monogram, the latter seems to read kommerkiarios.