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John hypatos and dioiketes of Cyprus (eighth/ninth century)

 
 

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V?). No visible border. In the four quarters: ΤΣ|Δ..

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. No visible border.

ΙΑΝ
ΗΥΠΑΤ
ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤ /
.ΥΠΡ

Ἰωάννῃ ὑπάτῳ (καὶ) διοικητ Κύπρου

Obverse

Cruciform invocative monogram (type V?). No visible border. In the four quarters: ΤΣ|Δ..

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. No visible border.

ΙΑΝ
ΗΥΠΑΤ
ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤ /
.ΥΠΡ

Ἰωάννῃ ὑπάτῳ (καὶ) διοικητ Κύπρου

Accession number BZS.1958.106.2033
Diameter 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 38.5.
Zacos-Veglery, no. 2020.
Cf. similar seals, possibly from the same boulloterion, illustrated in Sig., 304, no. 1.

Translation

Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάννῃ ὑπάτῳ καὶ διοικητῇ Κύπρου.

Mother of God, help your servant John hypatos and dioiketes of Cyprus.

Commentary

Another seal of Eustathios hypatos and dioiketes of Cyprus, also dated 8th/9th century, is published by Zacos-Veglery (no. 1895). The dioiketes of Cyprus was obviously in charge of collecting the Byzantine share of the Cypriot tax: to judge from the preserved seals, he appears to be an official of the Byzantine state, not of any local administration.

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)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
  • Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantium and Islam in Cyprus in the Early Middle Ages (Open in Zotero)
  • The Nature of the Arab-Byzantine Relations in Cyprus from the Middle of the 7th to the Middle of the 10th Century A.D. (Open in Zotero)
  • The Church of Cyprus during the Period of the Arab Wars, 649-965 (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Synodikon de l’orthodoxie: Édition et commentaire (Open in Zotero)
  • Ἡ Κύπρος καὶ οἱ Ἄραβες (Open in Zotero)
  • Σημειώσεις Ἀναφερόμεναι Εἰς Τῆν Ἱστορίαν Τῆς Βυζαντινῆς Κύπρου (Open in Zotero)
  • Les îles de l’empire byzantin: VIIIe-XIIe siècles (Open in Zotero)
  • Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata (Open in Zotero)