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The archbishop of Cyprus (twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

St. Epiphanios standing, offering blessing. Inscription: Ο|ΑΓ|Ι|Ο|ΣΕ|ΠΙ|ΦΑ|ΝΙ|ΟΣ: ὁ ἅγιος Ἐπιφάνιος. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines beginning with a cross. No border visible.

τποι
μεναρχ
τοσφρα
.ισμακυ
.ριν

Τοῦ ποιμενάρχου τὸ σφράγισμα Κυπρίων

Obverse

St. Epiphanios standing, offering blessing. Inscription: Ο|ΑΓ|Ι|Ο|ΣΕ|ΠΙ|ΦΑ|ΝΙ|ΟΣ: ὁ ἅγιος Ἐπιφάνιος. Border of dots.

Reverse

Inscription of five lines beginning with a cross. No border visible.

τποι
μεναρχ
τοσφρα
.ισμακυ
.ριν

Τοῦ ποιμενάρχου τὸ σφράγισμα Κυπρίων

Accession number BZS.1958.106.36
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 2, no. 38.17.
Laurent, Corpus V/2, no. 1485.

Translation

Τοῦ ποιμενάρχου τὸ σφράγισμα Κυπρίων.

The seal of the archbishop of Cyprus.

Commentary

Dodecasyllabic. Laurent has shown that there is no archbishopric of Cyprus by the name of Epiphanios who could be the owner of the present seal. We think this was a seal used during a vacancy and, in the case of Cyprus, such a vacancy and irregularity must certainly have occurred around 1110, with the resignation of Nicholas Mouzalon (cf. S. I. Doanidou, "Ἡ παραίτησις Νικολάου τοῦ Μουζάλωνος ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀρχιεπισκοπῆς Κύπρου," Hellenika 7 [1934] 109-50, and H. Kormpete, "Ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὸν Πατριάρχην Νικόλαον Δˊ τὸν Μουζάλωνα," Hellenika 7 [1934] 301-22).

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)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (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)
  • Ἡ παραίτησις Νικολάου τοῦ Μουζάλωνος ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχιεπισκοπῆς Κύπρου (Open in Zotero)
  • Ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὸν πατριαρχην Νικόλαον Δˊ τὸν Μουζάλωνα (Open in Zotero)