The monastery of Nea Mone of Chios (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Inscription of three lines, decorations above and below. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑ
ΓΙΣΜΟΝ
ΑΣΤΝ
Σφραγὶς μοναστῶν
Reverse
Inscription of three lines. Border of dots.
ΤΗ͂ΣΝΗ
Α͂ΣΜΟΝΗ͂
ΣΧΙΟΎ
τῆς Νέας Μονῆς Χίου
Obverse
Inscription of three lines, decorations above and below. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑ
ΓΙΣΜΟΝ
ΑΣΤΝ
Σφραγὶς μοναστῶν
Reverse
Inscription of three lines. Border of dots.
ΤΗ͂ΣΝΗ
Α͂ΣΜΟΝΗ͂
ΣΧΙΟΎ
τῆς Νέας Μονῆς Χίου
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.440 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 19.0 mm; field: 13.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 41.8a; one photograph of specimen (a) was previously published by G. Galavaris, "Seals of the Byzantine Empire," Archaeology 12 (1959) 267, pl. 7. |
Translation
Σφραγὶς μοναστῶν τῆς Νέας Μονῆς Χίου.
Seal of the monks of the Nea Mone of Chios.
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
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin, vol. 5, L’Église
- Seals of the Byzantine Empire
- Nea Moni on Chios: History and Architecture
- Les îles de l'empire byzantin
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 1
- Μελέται περὶ τῆς διοικητικῆς διαιρέσεως καὶ τῆς ἐπαρχιακῆς διοικήσεως ἐν τῷ Βυζαντινῷ κράτει
- Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis: Series episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium
- The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
- Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden Teil 2: N - Sphragis
Commentary
This seals is edited jointly with the other two specimens from the same boulloterion, listed below.
Dodecasyllabic. Some accents on the reverse, two of which, the second and the fourth, are misplaced and erroneous grammatically and metrically (the fourth one could be considered as representing the popular form ἡ Χιός, τῆς Χιοῦ, but in this case it should be a circumflex; and it is metrically unacceptable).
For the history of the famous monastery, see Ch. Bouras, Nea Moni on Chios: History and Architecture; Malmut, Iles, 570-72.