Nikephoros kommerkiarios of the Parthenos (eighth/ninth century)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). Small wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Small wreath border.
νικη
φοροκομ
ερκη/το
υπρθ/
Νικηφόρο κομερκη(αρίῳ) τοῦ Παρθ(ένου)
Obverse
Cruciform invocative monogram (type V). Small wreath border.
Θεοτόκε βοήθει
Reverse
Inscription of four lines. Small wreath border.
νικη
φοροκομ
ερκη/το
υπρθ/
Νικηφόρο κομερκη(αρίῳ) τοῦ Παρθ(ένου)
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.4940 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 22.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 14.2. Zacos-Veglery, no. 1559 (our specimen [a] and another one from the same boulloterion). |
Translation
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Νικηφόρο κομερκηαρίῳ τοῦ Παρθένου.
Mother of God, help Nikephoros, kommerkiarios of the Parthenos.
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)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- De Thematibus (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)
- Drei byzantinische Bleisiegel aus Ephesos (Open in Zotero)
- Ephesos in byzantinischer Zeit (Open in Zotero)
- Die Städte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Open in Zotero)
- Theophanis Chronographia (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Zacos-Veglery restored Παρθ(ενίου) and identified this placename with modern Bartin in the neighborhood of Amastris and the Parthenios River (cf. RE 18 [1949] 1891). Another possibility is to read Παρθ(ένου) and understand St. John the Theologian, well known by that name, and relate this seal to Ephesos/Theologos and the important fair of St. John which is attested at the very time when this seal was struck (in 795: Theophanes, 469-70).
The ancient city of Ephesos was abandoned in the seventh century in favor of the security of the inland fortress of Theologos, where the famous basilica (and major pilgrimage center) of St. John the Evangelist stood (near modern Selçuk). The name (Ἅγιος) Θεολόγος, Theologo, Ayasoluk was currently used when speaking of the medieval town and its administrators, such as the commander of the fortress, the paraphylax, or the archon (eighth/ninth century: Zacos-Veglery, no. 2282A) and the (undoubtedly naval) droungarios (ninth century: ibid., 2561A; Konstantopoulos, no. 135). But the old name, Ephesos, also survived in civil administration: Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos informs us that the theme of Samos, which is first attested at the very end of the ninth century, had control over the tourma of Ephesos (Ἐφέσιον: De Them., chap. XVI, line 14), while we have mentions of tax collectors (dioiketes) of Ephesos (ActaSS November III, 540; Zacos-Veglery, no. 2487). We have the impression that Theologos was the local usage, while Ephesos came from the learned circles of Constantinople and was the name that prevailed alone in the ecclesiastic administration.
Ephesos was a major metropolis, with no less than 39 suffragans attached to it at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, claiming to preserve the remains of the Apostle John (whose representation appears on the obverse on some seals of metropolitans). It is mentioned in all notitiae.
See Laurent, Corpus V/1, 178; Culerrier, Suffragants d'Ephèse; ODB I, 706; W. Seibt, "Drei byzantinische Bleisiegel aus Ephesos," Litterae numismaticae vindobonenses Roberto Goebl dedicatae (Vienna, 1979), 145-54; W. Brandes, "Ephesos in byzantinischer Zeit," Klio 64 (1982) 611-22; Brandes, Städte, 83-85.