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The diakonia of the Theotokos of the property of Verus (seventh/eighth century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of the Mother of God with Christ before her; at left and right, small crosses. Circular inscription, beginning at twelve o'clock, between a double border of dots:

..ε.γισθεοτοκου

[Ὑπ]ε[ρ]αγ[ί]ας Θεοτόκου

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.

δι
κονισ
τονβι
ρον

Διακονίας τον Βίρου

Obverse

Bust of the Mother of God with Christ before her; at left and right, small crosses. Circular inscription, beginning at twelve o'clock, between a double border of dots:

..ε.γισθεοτοκου

[Ὑπ]ε[ρ]αγ[ί]ας Θεοτόκου

Reverse

Inscription of four lines. Wreath border.

δι
κονισ
τονβι
ρον

Διακονίας τον Βίρου

Accession number BZS.1958.106.43
Diameter 28.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 34a (mislabelled, photograph b); John W. Nesbitt, "Byzantine Copper Tokens," SBS 1 (1987) 70–71.

Translation

Ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου διακονίας τον Βίρου.

(Seal of) the diakonia of the most holy Theotokos of the properties of Verus.

Commentary

This seal is edited jointly with its parallels linked to this entry.

The Βῆρος remembered on this seal may well the the Verus of legend who, like Zotikos and Sampson, supposedly left Rome in the time of Constantine the Great and purchased property in Constantinople that later became charitable institutions. See Syn. Eccl. CP., col. 359, line 42.

In Zacos–Veglery, no. 2099, we find a ninth-century seal of a Leo, cleric and chartoularios of the property of Verus.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Copper Tokens (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, Propylaeum ad AASS Novembris (Open in Zotero)