John bishop of Kaloe (eleventh century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding Christ in her left arm, who in turn holds a scroll in his left hand. On either side the inscription: ̅-θ̅υ : Μ(ήτη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding Christ in her left arm, who in turn holds a scroll in his left hand. On either side the inscription: ̅-θ̅υ : Μ(ήτη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines, top line missing. Border of dots.
......
.ωσωδ,λ,
ι̅ω̅επισκ,
ποκαλο
–ησ–
[Θ(εοτό)κε β(οή)θ(ει) τ]ῷ σῷ δ(ού)λ(ῳ) Ἰω(άννῃ) ἐπισκ(ό)πο Καλόης
Accession number | BZS.1958.106.305 |
---|---|
Diameter | 25.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 19.1. Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 280. |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἰωάννῃ ἐπισκόπο Καλόης.
Mother of God, help your servant John, bishop of Kaloe.
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 (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Les évêchés suffragants d’Ephèse aux 5e-13e siècles (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Kaloe (or Koloe), in the upper Cayster valley, has been identified with modern Keles: a suffragan bishopric of Ephesos, mentioned in all notitiae from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries. Its first bishop is attested in 431. See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 196; Culerrier, Suffragants d'Ephèse, 156 (episcopal list). Its one claim to fame is as the birthplace of the tenth-century historian Leo the Deacon.