10ο Διεθνές Συmicroπόσιο Βυζαντινής Σφραγιστικής

10th international Symposium of Byzantine Sigillography

Περιλήψεις των ανακοινώσεων

N Alekseienko La carte sigillographique de la Crimeacutee les nouvelles places des trouvailles des sceaux de la byzantins en Crimeacutee

Les trouvailles des sceaux byzantins sur la territoire de Taurique sont connues il y a longtemps et leurs origine est lie avec Cherson En ce moment ndash lagrave ce lieu nrsquoest pas seul ougrave se trouvent les molybdoboulles Ainsi dans lrsquohistoriographie de Byzance quelques trouvailles des sceaux sont connues agrave Partenite ougrave eacutevidemment il y avait la reacutesidence drsquoeacutevecircque Au dernier moment Sougdeyas de Byzance eat devenue le grand fournisseur de sceaux La suite de recherches archeacuteologiques aux monuments de Taurique de Byzance mais aussi lrsquoobservation active drsquoamateur de meacutetal deacutetecteur des territoires vastes adheacuterantes aux centres principaux administratifs et commercials eacuteconomiques de la Crimeacutee meacutedieacutevale permettent aujourdrsquohui drsquoeacutelargir consideacuterablement la carte geacuteographique des trouvailles des molybdoboulles de cette reacutegion Parmi des nouveaux lieux il faut premierement marquer le plateau de la montagne Mangup ougrave srsquoinstallait la capitale de la principauteacute Pheacuteodoro On connait les sceaux comme du premier temps (mollybdoboulle du logothegravete Meacutetrophane du VII-egraveme siegravecle) aussi des peacuteriodes plus tard (drsquoineacutepigraphe de sceau du XI-XII-egraveme siegravecles) Pas excepteacute qursquoici agrave Cherson ou Sougdeyas on peut apparaicirctre grand complexe des bulles de plomb de Byzance avec le temps Agrave lrsquoappui de ccedila il y a des trouvailles des sceaux mecircme aux bourgs srsquoinstalleacutes au pied (pathegravere du police de Cherson de la deuxieacuteme moiteacute du VI-egraveme siegravecle) La trouvalle du premier molybdoboulle de Byzance drsquohypatos Theacuteophylacte (VIII-IX-egraveme siegravecles) sur la fortification Suyrene bien sucircr fait venir lrsquointeacuterecirct Les trouvailles rares des sceaux on peut marquer pas tellement en Crimeacutee de Sud-Ouest Ainsi en reacutegion de la montagne Ajou-Dag pas lontemps eacutetait deacutecovert un sceau eacutevidement drsquoun des archontes de Cherson de la premiegravere moitieacute de IX-egraveme siegravecle et de Kertch (Bosporo) ou ses eacutendroits (les fouilles avant les anneacutees 1941) reacutesulte deuxiegraveme exemplaire du milibdoboulles tourmarque de Gothie (X-egraveme sciegravecle) trouveacute agravela composition des archives des sceaux de Cherson Sauf ccedila des contacts reacuteels Bosporo avec lrsquoappareil des fonctionnaires drsquoeacutempire encore en premiegravere peacuteriode de Byzance teacutemoignement les trouvailles des molybdoboulles du VII-VIII-egraveme sciegravecles agravela pente de la montagne Mitridat Au dernier temps la topographie des trouvailles agrave eacutelargi considerablement dans les endroits de mecircme Cherson Et en outre ici ont devenu connus les sceaux reacutesultants des bourgs confineacutes agrave la citeacute ansienne aussi des lieux trop eacuteloigneacutes Par exemple de chora de Cherson (la reacutegion de Fiolent le ravin de Bermann) tirent son origine quelques sceaux des archontes de Cherson de la premiegravere moitieacute du IX-egraveme sciegravecle Par lrsquooutre lieu on peut nommer la reacutegion de Balaklava On rapelle qursquoici aux anneacutees 60 du XX-egraveme sciegravecle eacutetait trouveacute la boulle de pape Alexandre IV dont la datation est le printemps de lrsquoanneacutee 1261 De cette reacutegion les sceaux de

Byzance nrsquoeacutetait pas connus avant La nouvelle trouvailles nous preacutesente le sceau du VII-VIII-egraveme sciegravecle ce que est interessant parce que Balaclava ancienne de Byzance nrsquoa pas eacuteteacute appirise pratiquement archeacuteologiquement

Voilagrave lrsquoapparition de nouvelles trouvailles des sceaux de Byzance avec localisation vraie leur origine donne pas tellement la nouvelle information de mecircme monument de la sigillographie mais aussi preacutecise la geacuteographie de lrsquoassistance de Byzance en Taurique en manifestant surtout des lieux peu consacreacutes pas autres types de sources

V Bulgakova Archaeological Views on the Usage of Seals in Byzantium

Since at the turn of the 19th century the Byzantine Sigillography has been formed as a branch of science it exists an unshakeable conviction seals were used in Byzantium for sealing of bdquoplenty of actsldquo or in other words primarily for correspondence

New archaeological discoveries cast doubt on this apparent axiom though Recent underwater excavations in the port of Byzantine Sugdaia in the Crimea have brought to light a large number of Byzantine seals found together with artifacts typical for a port like coins weights trade articles nautical equipment and the like The finding situation define these seal finds as an immanent part of the archaeological harbour complex According to the find context seals can be clearly assigned to commercial and maritime activities in the port basin of Sugdaia The discovered seals must be used in taxation and transportation namely in most cases for sealing of goods

This detection let appear already known Byzantine as well as Roman or Old Russian underwater seal finds from another port complexes (eg Constantinopel Chersones Lugdunum Novgorod Drogičin and many others) in a new light If until now such seal finds were interpreted as a rule like remains of bdquoarchivesldquo thus an archaeological view gives rise to understand they as bdquogoods sealsldquo and associate with economic activities J-Cl Cheynet mdash B Caseau Les Xegraveroi eacutetude sociale et iconographique

Nul ne concevrait plus drsquoeacutecrire une monographie familiale sans lrsquoapport des sceaux Toute une seacuterie drsquoeacutetudes reacutecentes confirme lrsquoimportance de cette source Jusqursquoagrave maintenant ce sont les grandes familles militaires qui ont retenu lrsquoattention car les sources narratives donnent beaucoup drsquoinformations sur elles Pourtant les familles civiles ont laisseacute aussi de nombreux sceaux Les Xegraveroi sont lrsquoune drsquoelle Nous connaissons environ 25 drsquoentre eux qui furent tous actifs du XIe siegravecle au deacutebut du XIIIe s Ils ne sont pas inconnus car W Seibt et N Oikonomidegraves ont deacutejagrave donneacute de larges commentaires sur certains sceaux qursquoils publiaient notamment sur les Xegraveroi preacutenommeacutes Basile Lrsquoeacutetude des charges exerceacutees montrera le goucirct des Xegraveroi pour les lucratives charges financiegraveres et comment plusieurs membres de la mecircme famille reacuteussirent agrave exercer la mecircme charge Elle reacuteveacutelera aussi que si les Xegraveroi se sont illustreacutes principalement dans les charges civiles et plus modestement eccleacutesiastiques certains drsquoentre eux reccedilurent des fonctions militaires dans cette famille agrave tradition civile montrant une nouvelle fois que la frontiegravere nrsquoeacutetait pas eacutetanche entre les stratiotikon et politikon Lrsquoiconographie des sceaux a fait de reacutecents progregraves et le choix des signataires trouve plus souvent des explications Lrsquoutilisation des images de saints sur les plombs a fait lrsquoobjet des eacutetudes de J Cotsonis notamment Il reste que les travaux sur le choix des membres de toute une famille reste rares car crsquoest un terrain mineacute Un essai a eacuteteacute fait pour les Comnegravenes Les Xegraveroi se caracteacuterisent par le choix de saint Marc par plusieurs drsquoentre eux Or saint Marc est peu souvent repreacutesenteacute sur les plombs Il faudra tenter de comprendre ce que cela signifie pour lrsquohistoire de cette famille sans sortir du cadre des hypothegraveses Saint Marc apparaicirct parfois en compagnie drsquoun

autre saint autre singulariteacute Les Xegraveroi avaient une deacutevotion particuliegravere pour saint Marc Est-ce agrave dire que si saint Marc est preacutesent sur un sceau sans nom de famille il faut attribuer le plomb aux Xegraveroi Sinon le culte de la Vierge est le plus deacuteveloppeacute ensuite marque de la reacutesidence constantinopolitaine des Xegraveroi

No one would consider writing the history of a Byzantine family without the seals nowadays A number of recent publications include the study of seals and confirm their importance as a source for social history Up until now only major families have attracted scholars attention as they are known though narrative sources which provide information on their members Numerous seals however belong to families in civil service among them the Xeroi We know about 25 families who were working for civil administrations from the XIth century until the beginning of the XIIIth century Some of the seals of the Xeroi were published and commented upon by W Seibt and N Oikonomides They attracted scholars attention to a certain Basilios Xeros but a study of the whole family has not yet been offered The seals reveal that the family served the Byzantine State in different civil services and had an inclination for lucrative fiscal charges which were sometimes passed from one Xegraveros to another The Xegraveroi were also active in the Church or the army This family was mostly working in the civil service but once more we should not consider the frontier between the stratiotikon and the politikon as a tightly closed one Civil service did not exclude ecclesiastical or military charges The study of seals iconography had made recent progress thanks in particular to John Cotsonis We can try to account for the choices made by the owner of the seals A study was devoted to the iconographic choices of the Comnenian family yet such studies on one particular family remain rare because it is a difficult task We can only offer hypotheses We shall nevertheless try to attempt such a study for the Xeroi because many of them chose saint Mark who is a relatively rare saint on seals Saint Mark appears sometimes alone sometimes in company with another saint It seems obvious that the family had a devotion to that particular saint Can we deduce a geographic origin from that fact Is it a marker of that particular family and can we go so far as to attribute a seal with saint Mark to a member of the family Saint Mark however is not the only saint chosen by members of this family The second frequent saint is the Virgin which may indicate that the family lived in Constantinople We shall briefly explore what can be said concerning the iconography of the seals belonging to the Xegraveroi

E Gerousi Δύο microολυβδόβουλλα του 9ου αιώνα από την περιοχή της βυζαντινής συνοικίας του Πυθαγορείου στη Σάmicroο

Σύmicroφωνα microε τις microέχρι σήmicroερα έρευνες η παραλιακή πόλη της Σάmicroου (σηmicroερινό Πυθαγόρειο) στα microέσα του 7ου αιώνα εγκαταλείφθηκε από τους κατοίκους της οι οποίοι κατέφυγαν σε ασφαλέστερα υψώmicroατα στην ενδοχώρα του νησιού Μετά την αποmicroάκρυνση του αραβικού κινδύνου ένα microέρος του πληθυσmicroού επέστρεψε και εγκαταστάθηκε στις ΝΑ πλαγιές του λόφου πάνω από το λιmicroάνι όπου και ιδρύθηκε το κάστρο της Σάmicroου Στα ανατολικά του οχυρωmicroατικού περιβόλου στο πρανές του λόφου οι σωστικές ανασκαφές στον πυκνοδοmicroηmicroένο οικισmicroό του σηmicroερινού Πυθαγορείου έχουν αποκαλύψει τη λεγόmicroενη βυζαντινή συνοικία που αποτελείται επίσης από microικρά πυκνά δοmicroηmicroένα σπίτια Σε παρόmicroοια έρευνα όπου αποκαλύφθηκαν λείψανα σπιτιών και τmicroήmicroατα αποχετευτικού αγωγού βυζαντινών χρόνων ανάmicroεσα στα λιγοστά ευρήmicroατα κυρίως θραύσmicroατα κεραmicroεικής βρέθηκαν δύο microολυβδόβουλλα που microπορούν να χρονολογηθούν στον 9ο αιώνα Και τα δύο φέρουν στη microία πλευρά σταυρόσχηmicroα microονογράmicromicroατα επικλήσεων και στην άλλη επιγραφές σε τέσσερις γραmicromicroές Η microία επιγραφή αναφέρει το όνοmicroα του Θεοδώρου και τα αξιώmicroατά του που ήταν του βασιλικού σπαθαρίου και στρατηγού Δυρραχίου και η άλλη το όνοmicroα του Γεωργίου τον τίτλο του ως πατρικίου και το αξίωmicroά του που ήταν του στρατηγού Ελλάδος Οι σφραγίδες των στρατηγών

δύο ισχυρών περιφερειακών στρατιωτικών διοικήσεων του βυζαντινού κράτους αποτελούν αφενός σηmicroαντική microαρτυρία για την οργάνωση του κράτους και τις επαφές microεταξύ των στρατηγών και αφετέρου για τη θέση του κάστρου της Σάmicroου αυτή την εποχή που αποτελεί ισχυρή βάση και κέντρο επιχειρήσεων του ναυτικού θέmicroατος των Κιβυρραιωτών

A Gkoutzioukostas Some Remarks on Mystographos and Mystolektes

This paper examines the offices of mystographos and mystolektes who are mentioned on seals of the 11th century but whose duties remain unknown According to certain scholars who base their assumption mainly on the evidence of seals the mystographos and the mystolektes were judicial officers However the testimony of other primary sources indicates that the duties of a mystographos were first and foremost secretarial In addition the evidence of seals does not prove that mystolektes was a judicial officer Perhaps he was an imperial messenger of some sort

M Gruumlnbart Sichern Bewahren und Vervielfaumlltigen Die Sammlung byzantinischer Alltagsgegenstaumlnde der Menil Collection in Houston Texas Im Herbst 2008 konnte eine Kooperation zwischen der Menil Collection in Houston Texas und dem Seminar fuumlr Byzantinistik der Universitaumlt Muumlnster beschlossen werden Ziel ist die Veroumlffentlichung der byzantinischen Metallgegenstaumlnde der texanischen Sammlung basierend auf den Vorarbeiten von Gary Vikan Neben Schluumlsseln und Schloumlssern gibt es auch eine groszlige Sammlung von Stempeln sowie einige byzantinische Bleisiegel

Ziel der Praumlsentation ist es die kulturhistorische Dimension dieser Sammlung anhand ausgewaumlhlter Objekte zu zeigen und auf allgemeine Fragen der Sicherheit in Byzanz einzugehen A Hoti ndash D Komatas Byzantine Epigraphs of Early Medieval Period in Albania (7th ndash 11th cent)

The inscriptional wealth of the Albanian territory contains some Byzantine epigraphy belonging to the early medieval period (7th -11th cent)

A number of gold and silver vessels found in the treasure of the Vrap village (12 km from Tirana) belong to the best genre of the Byzantine repertoire Three of them are worth mentioning two silver plates with the control seal of the Emperor Konstant II (644665 and 659663) a silver kettle with the Greek inscription -ΦΩNH KYPIOY EΠI TΩN YΔATΩN [Psalm 293] at the bottom of which the words KYPIE - BOHΘEI - TO ΔOYΛO - AMHN have been carved and a golden cup with Eucharistic motifs and the images of four cities in a niello where the names of the four cities have been inscribed in Greekdagger KωΝCΤΑΝΤΗΝΟΠΟΛΗC - dagger ΠωΛΗC KΥΠΡΟC ect The vessels were found along with belt buckles and ornamental inlays of the Avar type dating either in the second half of the 6th century up to the second half of the 7th century or to be more precise between the years 559-665

There have been recent discussions about the place where these vessels were produced We think that except for Constantinople ndash to which one of the vessels has been linked by the seal of the Emperor Konstant II - they could belong to any other gold and silver workshop of the Aegean One inscribed pillar discovered in Ballsh has been engraved in the Greek language The inscription speaks about an important event for the Bulgarian kingdom of which Arbanon was a part for a some timeIn this inscription is memorialized Czar Boris who was

baptized together with his people accepting the Christian Orthodox faith and taking the name of Mihal I in the year 866

Rings with the full inscription were discovered in the excavations made in the cemeteries of Dalmace Kruja Piskova etc A round bezel on the rings has an engraved inscription in three lines ANA-OHΘH-ICEB ANA-OHΘH-ICER ANA-OHΘH-ICEP Coins dating from the 9th-11th centuries were found together with some of the rings In the Byzantine inscriptions discovered in the Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres are mentioned the proto-martyr Saint Stephen whose name can be read on the left of the mosaicrsquos southern panel The Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres was built in the first half of the 5th century but previous studies and recent research have dated the mosaics and epigraphy to the 10th century I Jordanov Corpus of the Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria (1979-2009) ndash Conception and Results

I have been working on the project Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria for more

than thirty years The beginning was in 1979 when the foundations of a building used as archives by the local strategos in the period 971-1092 were discovered during archaeological excavations in the second medieval Bulgarian capital Preslav More than 500 Byzantine lead seals 250 lead blanks and 4 moulds for casting the blanks were found inside and near the building All these finds were included and commented on in the monographic volume ldquoThe seals from the Strategia of Preslav (971-1092)rdquo Along with the work on the Preslav seals my task has also been the location documentation and publication of all Byzantine seals from the territory of the today Bulgaria

As a result of my constant effort more than 3500 Byzantine seals 800 lead blanks 20 moulds for casting and 2 boulloteria have been located from the territory of modern Bulgaria and documented so far A portion of them has been published in the 1 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria vol I Byzantine Seals with Geographical Names Sofia 2003 2 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria Vol II Seals with Family Names Sofia 2006 3 Catalogue of Medieval Seals at the Regional Historical Museum of Shumenrdquo Shumen 2007

The third and last volume of the Corpus is in its final stage of completion It will practically include all sphragistic materials from the territory of modern Bulgaria

The texts of these seals undoubtedly serve as basic sources for Byzantine history rank hierarchy administration and prosopography In addition to that these seals can be used as sources for the history of specific settlements and regions

The paper deals with the various contributions of the material from Bulgaria in dating and interpretation of the texts on the seals

O Karagiorgou Strategoi of Hellas [with or without (Known) Boulloteria]

The present paper offers the first final report on one of the many issues examined under the wider and ongoing research project ldquoByzantine themes and sigillographyrdquo (first announced by the author in Paris 2001 and later in London 2006) which aims to reconstruct the administrative structure of the Byzantine Empire by arranging its various officials chronologically within the administrative sector and the theme they served as evident (primarily) by their lead seals and other sources

Among the various thematic officials the group of the strategoi deserves special attention as their office is directly linked to the creation and further development of the important administrative institution of the θέmicroατα It is thus evident that the reconstruction of

their lists in chronological sequence can offer (under specific conditions) a new research tool not just on the origins and general history of the themes but also on more specific questions such as the (still debated) length of their tenure or the narrower dating of their bullae

With specific examples from the corpus of the strategoi of Hellas this paper discusses first of all problems of methodology in the selection evaluation and presentation of the relevant sigillographic material with special reference to the difficult issues of identification and dating It then investigates how all this information interrelates with evidence from other sources and it concludes by showing how this and similar studies can enhance our understanding of the Byzantine administration and prosopography as well as of the general history of Byzantium

Th Kourempanas The Seal of the First Known Katepano of Italy

The present paper deals with the seal of Michael katepano of Italy Even though this person is known from literary sources his seal is unpublished and belongs to a private collection The provenance the iconography of the seal and the imperial administration of the Byzantine part of the peninsula will be discussed during this presentation

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί το microολυβδόβουλλο του Μιχαήλ του πρώτου κατεπάνω Ιταλίας Αν και το πρόσωπο αυτό είναι γνωστό από φιλολογικές πηγές το microολυβδόβουλλο αυτού του αξιωmicroατούχου παραmicroένει αδηmicroοσίευτο Ο τόπος εύρεσης η εικονογραφία της σφραγίδας και η οργάνωση της βυζαντινής διοίκησης θα αποτελέσουν τα αντικείmicroενα microελέτης στην παρουσίαση αυτή I Leontiades Byzantine Seals with Family Names This paper looks at a number of lead seals of the Late Byzantine period The names on them are in some cases very well known and in others less familiar Reference is also made to other published and unpublished seals of these persons and members of the same families The information in Byzantine sources about these persons and families is examined and there is some discussion of related prosopographical and historical problems I Koltsida-Makri Lead Seals from Excavations in Greece

The historical value of lead seals with certain origin is unquestionably significant for the reason that these seals enable us to register sufficiently the correspondence distribution in Byzantine era Furthermore the geographical dispersion of the seals consists a precious knowledge for detecting the communication status of the central administration in Constantinople with the regional centres on the one hand and the contacts of the provinces between them on the other

Apart from the lead seals still hanging on the documents they sealed which are rare cases (such as the documents of the Holy Mountain) the seals with certain origin can be in general divided in two categories casual finds that have been located on specific sites and excavation finds The last ones surely have the advantage over the first exactly because they come to light in a context easily detectable due to correlations with the rest of the finds originating from the same excavation Consequently these seals offer much more concrete and ample evidence to the scholars

The subject was treated for the first time during the second International Symposium of Byzantine Sigillography that took place in Athens in the year 1988 (cf SBS 2 1990 proceedings of the Symposium) That was the first effort for a systematic study presentation and registration of lead seals with certain origin In the twenty years they have passed ever since this

important reservoir of knowledge has been enriched with new data which this paper aims to present for the hellenic territory Mutatis mudandis the number of lead seals that have been found out during excavation works in Greece in the last twenty years is not big However the new evidence especially located in Northen Greece (MaKedonia and Thrace) is considered important because it may sufficiently add new issues to the correspondence distribution during the byzantine period in the west provinces of the Imperium corresponding to the boundaries of the modern hellenic state

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης έχουν αναmicroφισβήτητα microεγάλη ιστορική αξία κυρίως διότι microας επιτρέπουν να καταγράψουmicroε microε ικανοποιητική ακρίβεια τη διακίνηση της αλληλογραφίας κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους Αυτή η πολύτιmicroη γνώση της γεωγραφικής διασποράς των σφραγίδων βοηθά να εντοπίσουmicroε ποιες περιοχές της περιφέρειας είχαν συχνή επικοινωνία microε την κεντρική διοίκηση στην πρωτεύουσα αλλά και ποια περιφερειακά διοικητικά κέντρα είχαν συχνότερες επαφές microεταξύ τους

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης διακρίνονται σε δύο κατηγορίες η πρώτη αφορά στα τυχαία ευρήmicroατα τα οποία έχουν εντοπισθεί σε συγκεκριmicroένη γεωγραφική θέση και η δεύτερη στα ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα τα οποία ασφαλώς πλεονεκτούν σε σχέση microε αυτά της πρώτης κατηγορίας επειδή ακριβώς αποκαλύπτονται σε περιβάλλον που microπορεί να διαγνωστεί πολύ ευκολότερα λόγω συσχετισmicroών και microε τα λοιπά ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα και κατά συνέπεια οι πληροφορίες που προσφέρουν microπορούν να καταστούν σαφώς πληρέστερες

Το δεύτερο Διεθνές Συmicroπόσιο Βυζαντινής Σφραγιδογραφίας που πραγmicroατοποιήθηκε στο Νοmicroισmicroατικό Μουσείο Αθηνών το έτος 1988 [πρβλ SBS 2(1990) ο τόmicroος αυτός αποτελεί έκδοση των πρακτικών του Συνεδρίου] είχε ως θέmicroα τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης και τη σηmicroασία τους Τότε τέθηκε για πρώτη φορά το ζήτηmicroα στην πραγmicroατική του διάσταση και έγινε microια πρώτη προσπάθεια συστηmicroατικής καταγραφής και παρουσίασης των microολυβδοβούλλων microε ακριβή προέλευση Στα είκοσι χρόνια που microεσολάβησαν η σπουδαία αυτή δεξαmicroενή γνώσης εmicroπλουτίστηκε microε νέα δεδοmicroένα τα οποία η παρούσα ανακοίνωση επιδιώκει να καλύψει για τον ελληνικό χώρο Τηρουmicroένων βεβαίως των αναλογιών ο αριθmicroός των microολυβδοβούλλων που έχουν έλθει στο φως στη διάρκεια ανασκαφών κατά την τελευταία εικοσαετία στην Ελλάδα δεν είναι microεγάλος ωστόσο οι νέες microαρτυρίες που εντοπίζονται κυρίως στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα στην περιοχή της Μακεδονίας και Θράκης θεωρούνται σηmicroαντικές διότι βοηθούν να συmicroπληρωθεί σε ικανοποιητικό βαθmicroό η εικόνα της διακίνησης της αλληλογραφίας στα βυζαντινά χρόνια στις microικρές δυτικές επαρχίες της Αυτοκρατορίας που αντιστοιχούν στα όρια της σύγχρονης ελληνικής επικράτειας

K Mantzana - CTsodoulos Unedited Patriarchal Sigillia of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos at Meteora

In the present statement they will be presented three Patriarchal sigillia which are kept in the Sacristy of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos one of the most important monasteries of Meteora In sigillia is provided information concerning the privileges of the Monastery They inform us about the administrative autonomy and the safeguarding of its land and the holy relics Sigillia bring lead seals which in the obverse depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus while the reverse bears the embossed name and title of each Ecumenical Patriarch (Raphael II (1605) Paisios II (1743) and Gregory VI (1838)) as well it is mentioned the year of publication of sigillia

Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιασθούν τρία Πατριαρχικά σιγίλλια τα οποία φυλάσσονται στο Σκευοφυλάκιο της Ιεράς Μονής Αγίου Στεφάνου microιας εκ των σπουδαιοτέρων Μονών των Μετεώρων Στα σιγίλλια αυτά παρέχονται στοιχεία που αφορούν στα προνόmicroια της

Ιεράς Μονής Μας πληροφορούν για τη διοικητική αυτονοmicroία και τη διασφάλιση των κτηmicroάτων και των ιερών λειψάνων της Φέρουν microολυβδόβουλα στα οποία στον εmicroπροσθότυπο απεικονίζεται η Παναγία Βρεφοκρατούσα ενώ ο οπισθότυπος φέρει έκτυπο το όνοmicroα και τον τίτλο του εκάστοτε Οικουmicroενικού Πατριάρχη (Ραφαήλ Βrsquo(1605) Παΐσιος Βrsquo (1743) και Γρηγόριος Στrsquo (1838)) καθώς επίσης αναφέρεται και το έτος εκδόσεως του σιγιλλίου

A Mazarakes Το microολυβδόβουλο του Ιωάννη Χαmicroαρέτου

The presence of the Chamaretos family in the area of Lacedaemon is an ever challenging historical realm always prompting the researcher to further investigation although we already have a good picture of their role and influence thanks to the Sigilography stemming from historical sources dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries

The ascension of Ioannis Chamaretos in the rank of a Despot one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire is of course already known to us It had never been clear however under what conditions this climbing of the hierarchy ladder was in fact realized

The finding of a lead seal mentioning Ioannis Chamaretos as the Despot of the Laconians introduces us with a new aspect concerning the history of the family and is quite revealing as to the taking over of Sparta by the Franks not to mention the fact that it is our only source of information pertaining to the place where Ioannis Chamaretos fled ndash his private homeland the castle of Maina in Laconia

The inscription on the lead seal divided into verses written in iambic trimeter is as follows Seal writing Despot Chamaretos Ioannis Despot of Maina of the Laconians

The laconic phrasing of the inscription that makes no reference as to the holder of the lead seal or to his past titles coupled with the fact that nothing whatsoever concerning the ties of the Chamaretos family with the area of Lacedaemon is mentioned leads us to chronologically place the lead seal in 121112 that is after the conquest of the city of Sparta by the Franks

His relationship with the area of Lacedaemon remains ambiguous probably deliberately so due to perhaps political reasons On the other hand his attitude shows a constant or uninterrupted relationship with Mani the land of the Laconians as was also the case with Leo Chamaretos the predecessor of Ioannis He too held the title of tyrant of the Laconians

In 1222 Ioannis Chamaretos fled to the court of Theodoros Comnenos A political conflict between himself and his relative G Daemonogiannis was partly to blame for his escape Even when retired to the castle of Mani Ioannis Chamaretos did not cease to be constantly involved in political skirmishes against the invaders of his land He allegedly managed to reach the region of Epirus after he was left to die at some isolated beach by his opponent and relative G Daemonogiannis To us this probability seems highly remote so we may just assume that his end reached us in a dramatized version

What it all boils down to finally is that Ioannis Chamaretos somehow managed to outlive the wrath of his rivals and to reach the court of Theodoros Comnenos thus sealing a whole chapter of the history not only of his family but also of Laconia

J Nesbitt - J Cotsonis The Image of the Doubting Thomas on an Unpublished Seal of the 6th Century St Thomas is only rarely depicted on Byzantine seals For example in volume 1 of Zacos and Vegleryrsquos Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) one encounters only a single representation of this apostle (no 1292)mdasha (highly corroded) profile bust To this limited range of citations may be added a seal preserved in a private collection If the object and its decoration were simply a question of another bust the significance of the specimen and its

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

Byzance nrsquoeacutetait pas connus avant La nouvelle trouvailles nous preacutesente le sceau du VII-VIII-egraveme sciegravecle ce que est interessant parce que Balaclava ancienne de Byzance nrsquoa pas eacuteteacute appirise pratiquement archeacuteologiquement

Voilagrave lrsquoapparition de nouvelles trouvailles des sceaux de Byzance avec localisation vraie leur origine donne pas tellement la nouvelle information de mecircme monument de la sigillographie mais aussi preacutecise la geacuteographie de lrsquoassistance de Byzance en Taurique en manifestant surtout des lieux peu consacreacutes pas autres types de sources

V Bulgakova Archaeological Views on the Usage of Seals in Byzantium

Since at the turn of the 19th century the Byzantine Sigillography has been formed as a branch of science it exists an unshakeable conviction seals were used in Byzantium for sealing of bdquoplenty of actsldquo or in other words primarily for correspondence

New archaeological discoveries cast doubt on this apparent axiom though Recent underwater excavations in the port of Byzantine Sugdaia in the Crimea have brought to light a large number of Byzantine seals found together with artifacts typical for a port like coins weights trade articles nautical equipment and the like The finding situation define these seal finds as an immanent part of the archaeological harbour complex According to the find context seals can be clearly assigned to commercial and maritime activities in the port basin of Sugdaia The discovered seals must be used in taxation and transportation namely in most cases for sealing of goods

This detection let appear already known Byzantine as well as Roman or Old Russian underwater seal finds from another port complexes (eg Constantinopel Chersones Lugdunum Novgorod Drogičin and many others) in a new light If until now such seal finds were interpreted as a rule like remains of bdquoarchivesldquo thus an archaeological view gives rise to understand they as bdquogoods sealsldquo and associate with economic activities J-Cl Cheynet mdash B Caseau Les Xegraveroi eacutetude sociale et iconographique

Nul ne concevrait plus drsquoeacutecrire une monographie familiale sans lrsquoapport des sceaux Toute une seacuterie drsquoeacutetudes reacutecentes confirme lrsquoimportance de cette source Jusqursquoagrave maintenant ce sont les grandes familles militaires qui ont retenu lrsquoattention car les sources narratives donnent beaucoup drsquoinformations sur elles Pourtant les familles civiles ont laisseacute aussi de nombreux sceaux Les Xegraveroi sont lrsquoune drsquoelle Nous connaissons environ 25 drsquoentre eux qui furent tous actifs du XIe siegravecle au deacutebut du XIIIe s Ils ne sont pas inconnus car W Seibt et N Oikonomidegraves ont deacutejagrave donneacute de larges commentaires sur certains sceaux qursquoils publiaient notamment sur les Xegraveroi preacutenommeacutes Basile Lrsquoeacutetude des charges exerceacutees montrera le goucirct des Xegraveroi pour les lucratives charges financiegraveres et comment plusieurs membres de la mecircme famille reacuteussirent agrave exercer la mecircme charge Elle reacuteveacutelera aussi que si les Xegraveroi se sont illustreacutes principalement dans les charges civiles et plus modestement eccleacutesiastiques certains drsquoentre eux reccedilurent des fonctions militaires dans cette famille agrave tradition civile montrant une nouvelle fois que la frontiegravere nrsquoeacutetait pas eacutetanche entre les stratiotikon et politikon Lrsquoiconographie des sceaux a fait de reacutecents progregraves et le choix des signataires trouve plus souvent des explications Lrsquoutilisation des images de saints sur les plombs a fait lrsquoobjet des eacutetudes de J Cotsonis notamment Il reste que les travaux sur le choix des membres de toute une famille reste rares car crsquoest un terrain mineacute Un essai a eacuteteacute fait pour les Comnegravenes Les Xegraveroi se caracteacuterisent par le choix de saint Marc par plusieurs drsquoentre eux Or saint Marc est peu souvent repreacutesenteacute sur les plombs Il faudra tenter de comprendre ce que cela signifie pour lrsquohistoire de cette famille sans sortir du cadre des hypothegraveses Saint Marc apparaicirct parfois en compagnie drsquoun

autre saint autre singulariteacute Les Xegraveroi avaient une deacutevotion particuliegravere pour saint Marc Est-ce agrave dire que si saint Marc est preacutesent sur un sceau sans nom de famille il faut attribuer le plomb aux Xegraveroi Sinon le culte de la Vierge est le plus deacuteveloppeacute ensuite marque de la reacutesidence constantinopolitaine des Xegraveroi

No one would consider writing the history of a Byzantine family without the seals nowadays A number of recent publications include the study of seals and confirm their importance as a source for social history Up until now only major families have attracted scholars attention as they are known though narrative sources which provide information on their members Numerous seals however belong to families in civil service among them the Xeroi We know about 25 families who were working for civil administrations from the XIth century until the beginning of the XIIIth century Some of the seals of the Xeroi were published and commented upon by W Seibt and N Oikonomides They attracted scholars attention to a certain Basilios Xeros but a study of the whole family has not yet been offered The seals reveal that the family served the Byzantine State in different civil services and had an inclination for lucrative fiscal charges which were sometimes passed from one Xegraveros to another The Xegraveroi were also active in the Church or the army This family was mostly working in the civil service but once more we should not consider the frontier between the stratiotikon and the politikon as a tightly closed one Civil service did not exclude ecclesiastical or military charges The study of seals iconography had made recent progress thanks in particular to John Cotsonis We can try to account for the choices made by the owner of the seals A study was devoted to the iconographic choices of the Comnenian family yet such studies on one particular family remain rare because it is a difficult task We can only offer hypotheses We shall nevertheless try to attempt such a study for the Xeroi because many of them chose saint Mark who is a relatively rare saint on seals Saint Mark appears sometimes alone sometimes in company with another saint It seems obvious that the family had a devotion to that particular saint Can we deduce a geographic origin from that fact Is it a marker of that particular family and can we go so far as to attribute a seal with saint Mark to a member of the family Saint Mark however is not the only saint chosen by members of this family The second frequent saint is the Virgin which may indicate that the family lived in Constantinople We shall briefly explore what can be said concerning the iconography of the seals belonging to the Xegraveroi

E Gerousi Δύο microολυβδόβουλλα του 9ου αιώνα από την περιοχή της βυζαντινής συνοικίας του Πυθαγορείου στη Σάmicroο

Σύmicroφωνα microε τις microέχρι σήmicroερα έρευνες η παραλιακή πόλη της Σάmicroου (σηmicroερινό Πυθαγόρειο) στα microέσα του 7ου αιώνα εγκαταλείφθηκε από τους κατοίκους της οι οποίοι κατέφυγαν σε ασφαλέστερα υψώmicroατα στην ενδοχώρα του νησιού Μετά την αποmicroάκρυνση του αραβικού κινδύνου ένα microέρος του πληθυσmicroού επέστρεψε και εγκαταστάθηκε στις ΝΑ πλαγιές του λόφου πάνω από το λιmicroάνι όπου και ιδρύθηκε το κάστρο της Σάmicroου Στα ανατολικά του οχυρωmicroατικού περιβόλου στο πρανές του λόφου οι σωστικές ανασκαφές στον πυκνοδοmicroηmicroένο οικισmicroό του σηmicroερινού Πυθαγορείου έχουν αποκαλύψει τη λεγόmicroενη βυζαντινή συνοικία που αποτελείται επίσης από microικρά πυκνά δοmicroηmicroένα σπίτια Σε παρόmicroοια έρευνα όπου αποκαλύφθηκαν λείψανα σπιτιών και τmicroήmicroατα αποχετευτικού αγωγού βυζαντινών χρόνων ανάmicroεσα στα λιγοστά ευρήmicroατα κυρίως θραύσmicroατα κεραmicroεικής βρέθηκαν δύο microολυβδόβουλλα που microπορούν να χρονολογηθούν στον 9ο αιώνα Και τα δύο φέρουν στη microία πλευρά σταυρόσχηmicroα microονογράmicromicroατα επικλήσεων και στην άλλη επιγραφές σε τέσσερις γραmicromicroές Η microία επιγραφή αναφέρει το όνοmicroα του Θεοδώρου και τα αξιώmicroατά του που ήταν του βασιλικού σπαθαρίου και στρατηγού Δυρραχίου και η άλλη το όνοmicroα του Γεωργίου τον τίτλο του ως πατρικίου και το αξίωmicroά του που ήταν του στρατηγού Ελλάδος Οι σφραγίδες των στρατηγών

δύο ισχυρών περιφερειακών στρατιωτικών διοικήσεων του βυζαντινού κράτους αποτελούν αφενός σηmicroαντική microαρτυρία για την οργάνωση του κράτους και τις επαφές microεταξύ των στρατηγών και αφετέρου για τη θέση του κάστρου της Σάmicroου αυτή την εποχή που αποτελεί ισχυρή βάση και κέντρο επιχειρήσεων του ναυτικού θέmicroατος των Κιβυρραιωτών

A Gkoutzioukostas Some Remarks on Mystographos and Mystolektes

This paper examines the offices of mystographos and mystolektes who are mentioned on seals of the 11th century but whose duties remain unknown According to certain scholars who base their assumption mainly on the evidence of seals the mystographos and the mystolektes were judicial officers However the testimony of other primary sources indicates that the duties of a mystographos were first and foremost secretarial In addition the evidence of seals does not prove that mystolektes was a judicial officer Perhaps he was an imperial messenger of some sort

M Gruumlnbart Sichern Bewahren und Vervielfaumlltigen Die Sammlung byzantinischer Alltagsgegenstaumlnde der Menil Collection in Houston Texas Im Herbst 2008 konnte eine Kooperation zwischen der Menil Collection in Houston Texas und dem Seminar fuumlr Byzantinistik der Universitaumlt Muumlnster beschlossen werden Ziel ist die Veroumlffentlichung der byzantinischen Metallgegenstaumlnde der texanischen Sammlung basierend auf den Vorarbeiten von Gary Vikan Neben Schluumlsseln und Schloumlssern gibt es auch eine groszlige Sammlung von Stempeln sowie einige byzantinische Bleisiegel

Ziel der Praumlsentation ist es die kulturhistorische Dimension dieser Sammlung anhand ausgewaumlhlter Objekte zu zeigen und auf allgemeine Fragen der Sicherheit in Byzanz einzugehen A Hoti ndash D Komatas Byzantine Epigraphs of Early Medieval Period in Albania (7th ndash 11th cent)

The inscriptional wealth of the Albanian territory contains some Byzantine epigraphy belonging to the early medieval period (7th -11th cent)

A number of gold and silver vessels found in the treasure of the Vrap village (12 km from Tirana) belong to the best genre of the Byzantine repertoire Three of them are worth mentioning two silver plates with the control seal of the Emperor Konstant II (644665 and 659663) a silver kettle with the Greek inscription -ΦΩNH KYPIOY EΠI TΩN YΔATΩN [Psalm 293] at the bottom of which the words KYPIE - BOHΘEI - TO ΔOYΛO - AMHN have been carved and a golden cup with Eucharistic motifs and the images of four cities in a niello where the names of the four cities have been inscribed in Greekdagger KωΝCΤΑΝΤΗΝΟΠΟΛΗC - dagger ΠωΛΗC KΥΠΡΟC ect The vessels were found along with belt buckles and ornamental inlays of the Avar type dating either in the second half of the 6th century up to the second half of the 7th century or to be more precise between the years 559-665

There have been recent discussions about the place where these vessels were produced We think that except for Constantinople ndash to which one of the vessels has been linked by the seal of the Emperor Konstant II - they could belong to any other gold and silver workshop of the Aegean One inscribed pillar discovered in Ballsh has been engraved in the Greek language The inscription speaks about an important event for the Bulgarian kingdom of which Arbanon was a part for a some timeIn this inscription is memorialized Czar Boris who was

baptized together with his people accepting the Christian Orthodox faith and taking the name of Mihal I in the year 866

Rings with the full inscription were discovered in the excavations made in the cemeteries of Dalmace Kruja Piskova etc A round bezel on the rings has an engraved inscription in three lines ANA-OHΘH-ICEB ANA-OHΘH-ICER ANA-OHΘH-ICEP Coins dating from the 9th-11th centuries were found together with some of the rings In the Byzantine inscriptions discovered in the Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres are mentioned the proto-martyr Saint Stephen whose name can be read on the left of the mosaicrsquos southern panel The Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres was built in the first half of the 5th century but previous studies and recent research have dated the mosaics and epigraphy to the 10th century I Jordanov Corpus of the Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria (1979-2009) ndash Conception and Results

I have been working on the project Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria for more

than thirty years The beginning was in 1979 when the foundations of a building used as archives by the local strategos in the period 971-1092 were discovered during archaeological excavations in the second medieval Bulgarian capital Preslav More than 500 Byzantine lead seals 250 lead blanks and 4 moulds for casting the blanks were found inside and near the building All these finds were included and commented on in the monographic volume ldquoThe seals from the Strategia of Preslav (971-1092)rdquo Along with the work on the Preslav seals my task has also been the location documentation and publication of all Byzantine seals from the territory of the today Bulgaria

As a result of my constant effort more than 3500 Byzantine seals 800 lead blanks 20 moulds for casting and 2 boulloteria have been located from the territory of modern Bulgaria and documented so far A portion of them has been published in the 1 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria vol I Byzantine Seals with Geographical Names Sofia 2003 2 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria Vol II Seals with Family Names Sofia 2006 3 Catalogue of Medieval Seals at the Regional Historical Museum of Shumenrdquo Shumen 2007

The third and last volume of the Corpus is in its final stage of completion It will practically include all sphragistic materials from the territory of modern Bulgaria

The texts of these seals undoubtedly serve as basic sources for Byzantine history rank hierarchy administration and prosopography In addition to that these seals can be used as sources for the history of specific settlements and regions

The paper deals with the various contributions of the material from Bulgaria in dating and interpretation of the texts on the seals

O Karagiorgou Strategoi of Hellas [with or without (Known) Boulloteria]

The present paper offers the first final report on one of the many issues examined under the wider and ongoing research project ldquoByzantine themes and sigillographyrdquo (first announced by the author in Paris 2001 and later in London 2006) which aims to reconstruct the administrative structure of the Byzantine Empire by arranging its various officials chronologically within the administrative sector and the theme they served as evident (primarily) by their lead seals and other sources

Among the various thematic officials the group of the strategoi deserves special attention as their office is directly linked to the creation and further development of the important administrative institution of the θέmicroατα It is thus evident that the reconstruction of

their lists in chronological sequence can offer (under specific conditions) a new research tool not just on the origins and general history of the themes but also on more specific questions such as the (still debated) length of their tenure or the narrower dating of their bullae

With specific examples from the corpus of the strategoi of Hellas this paper discusses first of all problems of methodology in the selection evaluation and presentation of the relevant sigillographic material with special reference to the difficult issues of identification and dating It then investigates how all this information interrelates with evidence from other sources and it concludes by showing how this and similar studies can enhance our understanding of the Byzantine administration and prosopography as well as of the general history of Byzantium

Th Kourempanas The Seal of the First Known Katepano of Italy

The present paper deals with the seal of Michael katepano of Italy Even though this person is known from literary sources his seal is unpublished and belongs to a private collection The provenance the iconography of the seal and the imperial administration of the Byzantine part of the peninsula will be discussed during this presentation

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί το microολυβδόβουλλο του Μιχαήλ του πρώτου κατεπάνω Ιταλίας Αν και το πρόσωπο αυτό είναι γνωστό από φιλολογικές πηγές το microολυβδόβουλλο αυτού του αξιωmicroατούχου παραmicroένει αδηmicroοσίευτο Ο τόπος εύρεσης η εικονογραφία της σφραγίδας και η οργάνωση της βυζαντινής διοίκησης θα αποτελέσουν τα αντικείmicroενα microελέτης στην παρουσίαση αυτή I Leontiades Byzantine Seals with Family Names This paper looks at a number of lead seals of the Late Byzantine period The names on them are in some cases very well known and in others less familiar Reference is also made to other published and unpublished seals of these persons and members of the same families The information in Byzantine sources about these persons and families is examined and there is some discussion of related prosopographical and historical problems I Koltsida-Makri Lead Seals from Excavations in Greece

The historical value of lead seals with certain origin is unquestionably significant for the reason that these seals enable us to register sufficiently the correspondence distribution in Byzantine era Furthermore the geographical dispersion of the seals consists a precious knowledge for detecting the communication status of the central administration in Constantinople with the regional centres on the one hand and the contacts of the provinces between them on the other

Apart from the lead seals still hanging on the documents they sealed which are rare cases (such as the documents of the Holy Mountain) the seals with certain origin can be in general divided in two categories casual finds that have been located on specific sites and excavation finds The last ones surely have the advantage over the first exactly because they come to light in a context easily detectable due to correlations with the rest of the finds originating from the same excavation Consequently these seals offer much more concrete and ample evidence to the scholars

The subject was treated for the first time during the second International Symposium of Byzantine Sigillography that took place in Athens in the year 1988 (cf SBS 2 1990 proceedings of the Symposium) That was the first effort for a systematic study presentation and registration of lead seals with certain origin In the twenty years they have passed ever since this

important reservoir of knowledge has been enriched with new data which this paper aims to present for the hellenic territory Mutatis mudandis the number of lead seals that have been found out during excavation works in Greece in the last twenty years is not big However the new evidence especially located in Northen Greece (MaKedonia and Thrace) is considered important because it may sufficiently add new issues to the correspondence distribution during the byzantine period in the west provinces of the Imperium corresponding to the boundaries of the modern hellenic state

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης έχουν αναmicroφισβήτητα microεγάλη ιστορική αξία κυρίως διότι microας επιτρέπουν να καταγράψουmicroε microε ικανοποιητική ακρίβεια τη διακίνηση της αλληλογραφίας κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους Αυτή η πολύτιmicroη γνώση της γεωγραφικής διασποράς των σφραγίδων βοηθά να εντοπίσουmicroε ποιες περιοχές της περιφέρειας είχαν συχνή επικοινωνία microε την κεντρική διοίκηση στην πρωτεύουσα αλλά και ποια περιφερειακά διοικητικά κέντρα είχαν συχνότερες επαφές microεταξύ τους

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης διακρίνονται σε δύο κατηγορίες η πρώτη αφορά στα τυχαία ευρήmicroατα τα οποία έχουν εντοπισθεί σε συγκεκριmicroένη γεωγραφική θέση και η δεύτερη στα ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα τα οποία ασφαλώς πλεονεκτούν σε σχέση microε αυτά της πρώτης κατηγορίας επειδή ακριβώς αποκαλύπτονται σε περιβάλλον που microπορεί να διαγνωστεί πολύ ευκολότερα λόγω συσχετισmicroών και microε τα λοιπά ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα και κατά συνέπεια οι πληροφορίες που προσφέρουν microπορούν να καταστούν σαφώς πληρέστερες

Το δεύτερο Διεθνές Συmicroπόσιο Βυζαντινής Σφραγιδογραφίας που πραγmicroατοποιήθηκε στο Νοmicroισmicroατικό Μουσείο Αθηνών το έτος 1988 [πρβλ SBS 2(1990) ο τόmicroος αυτός αποτελεί έκδοση των πρακτικών του Συνεδρίου] είχε ως θέmicroα τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης και τη σηmicroασία τους Τότε τέθηκε για πρώτη φορά το ζήτηmicroα στην πραγmicroατική του διάσταση και έγινε microια πρώτη προσπάθεια συστηmicroατικής καταγραφής και παρουσίασης των microολυβδοβούλλων microε ακριβή προέλευση Στα είκοσι χρόνια που microεσολάβησαν η σπουδαία αυτή δεξαmicroενή γνώσης εmicroπλουτίστηκε microε νέα δεδοmicroένα τα οποία η παρούσα ανακοίνωση επιδιώκει να καλύψει για τον ελληνικό χώρο Τηρουmicroένων βεβαίως των αναλογιών ο αριθmicroός των microολυβδοβούλλων που έχουν έλθει στο φως στη διάρκεια ανασκαφών κατά την τελευταία εικοσαετία στην Ελλάδα δεν είναι microεγάλος ωστόσο οι νέες microαρτυρίες που εντοπίζονται κυρίως στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα στην περιοχή της Μακεδονίας και Θράκης θεωρούνται σηmicroαντικές διότι βοηθούν να συmicroπληρωθεί σε ικανοποιητικό βαθmicroό η εικόνα της διακίνησης της αλληλογραφίας στα βυζαντινά χρόνια στις microικρές δυτικές επαρχίες της Αυτοκρατορίας που αντιστοιχούν στα όρια της σύγχρονης ελληνικής επικράτειας

K Mantzana - CTsodoulos Unedited Patriarchal Sigillia of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos at Meteora

In the present statement they will be presented three Patriarchal sigillia which are kept in the Sacristy of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos one of the most important monasteries of Meteora In sigillia is provided information concerning the privileges of the Monastery They inform us about the administrative autonomy and the safeguarding of its land and the holy relics Sigillia bring lead seals which in the obverse depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus while the reverse bears the embossed name and title of each Ecumenical Patriarch (Raphael II (1605) Paisios II (1743) and Gregory VI (1838)) as well it is mentioned the year of publication of sigillia

Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιασθούν τρία Πατριαρχικά σιγίλλια τα οποία φυλάσσονται στο Σκευοφυλάκιο της Ιεράς Μονής Αγίου Στεφάνου microιας εκ των σπουδαιοτέρων Μονών των Μετεώρων Στα σιγίλλια αυτά παρέχονται στοιχεία που αφορούν στα προνόmicroια της

Ιεράς Μονής Μας πληροφορούν για τη διοικητική αυτονοmicroία και τη διασφάλιση των κτηmicroάτων και των ιερών λειψάνων της Φέρουν microολυβδόβουλα στα οποία στον εmicroπροσθότυπο απεικονίζεται η Παναγία Βρεφοκρατούσα ενώ ο οπισθότυπος φέρει έκτυπο το όνοmicroα και τον τίτλο του εκάστοτε Οικουmicroενικού Πατριάρχη (Ραφαήλ Βrsquo(1605) Παΐσιος Βrsquo (1743) και Γρηγόριος Στrsquo (1838)) καθώς επίσης αναφέρεται και το έτος εκδόσεως του σιγιλλίου

A Mazarakes Το microολυβδόβουλο του Ιωάννη Χαmicroαρέτου

The presence of the Chamaretos family in the area of Lacedaemon is an ever challenging historical realm always prompting the researcher to further investigation although we already have a good picture of their role and influence thanks to the Sigilography stemming from historical sources dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries

The ascension of Ioannis Chamaretos in the rank of a Despot one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire is of course already known to us It had never been clear however under what conditions this climbing of the hierarchy ladder was in fact realized

The finding of a lead seal mentioning Ioannis Chamaretos as the Despot of the Laconians introduces us with a new aspect concerning the history of the family and is quite revealing as to the taking over of Sparta by the Franks not to mention the fact that it is our only source of information pertaining to the place where Ioannis Chamaretos fled ndash his private homeland the castle of Maina in Laconia

The inscription on the lead seal divided into verses written in iambic trimeter is as follows Seal writing Despot Chamaretos Ioannis Despot of Maina of the Laconians

The laconic phrasing of the inscription that makes no reference as to the holder of the lead seal or to his past titles coupled with the fact that nothing whatsoever concerning the ties of the Chamaretos family with the area of Lacedaemon is mentioned leads us to chronologically place the lead seal in 121112 that is after the conquest of the city of Sparta by the Franks

His relationship with the area of Lacedaemon remains ambiguous probably deliberately so due to perhaps political reasons On the other hand his attitude shows a constant or uninterrupted relationship with Mani the land of the Laconians as was also the case with Leo Chamaretos the predecessor of Ioannis He too held the title of tyrant of the Laconians

In 1222 Ioannis Chamaretos fled to the court of Theodoros Comnenos A political conflict between himself and his relative G Daemonogiannis was partly to blame for his escape Even when retired to the castle of Mani Ioannis Chamaretos did not cease to be constantly involved in political skirmishes against the invaders of his land He allegedly managed to reach the region of Epirus after he was left to die at some isolated beach by his opponent and relative G Daemonogiannis To us this probability seems highly remote so we may just assume that his end reached us in a dramatized version

What it all boils down to finally is that Ioannis Chamaretos somehow managed to outlive the wrath of his rivals and to reach the court of Theodoros Comnenos thus sealing a whole chapter of the history not only of his family but also of Laconia

J Nesbitt - J Cotsonis The Image of the Doubting Thomas on an Unpublished Seal of the 6th Century St Thomas is only rarely depicted on Byzantine seals For example in volume 1 of Zacos and Vegleryrsquos Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) one encounters only a single representation of this apostle (no 1292)mdasha (highly corroded) profile bust To this limited range of citations may be added a seal preserved in a private collection If the object and its decoration were simply a question of another bust the significance of the specimen and its

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

autre saint autre singulariteacute Les Xegraveroi avaient une deacutevotion particuliegravere pour saint Marc Est-ce agrave dire que si saint Marc est preacutesent sur un sceau sans nom de famille il faut attribuer le plomb aux Xegraveroi Sinon le culte de la Vierge est le plus deacuteveloppeacute ensuite marque de la reacutesidence constantinopolitaine des Xegraveroi

No one would consider writing the history of a Byzantine family without the seals nowadays A number of recent publications include the study of seals and confirm their importance as a source for social history Up until now only major families have attracted scholars attention as they are known though narrative sources which provide information on their members Numerous seals however belong to families in civil service among them the Xeroi We know about 25 families who were working for civil administrations from the XIth century until the beginning of the XIIIth century Some of the seals of the Xeroi were published and commented upon by W Seibt and N Oikonomides They attracted scholars attention to a certain Basilios Xeros but a study of the whole family has not yet been offered The seals reveal that the family served the Byzantine State in different civil services and had an inclination for lucrative fiscal charges which were sometimes passed from one Xegraveros to another The Xegraveroi were also active in the Church or the army This family was mostly working in the civil service but once more we should not consider the frontier between the stratiotikon and the politikon as a tightly closed one Civil service did not exclude ecclesiastical or military charges The study of seals iconography had made recent progress thanks in particular to John Cotsonis We can try to account for the choices made by the owner of the seals A study was devoted to the iconographic choices of the Comnenian family yet such studies on one particular family remain rare because it is a difficult task We can only offer hypotheses We shall nevertheless try to attempt such a study for the Xeroi because many of them chose saint Mark who is a relatively rare saint on seals Saint Mark appears sometimes alone sometimes in company with another saint It seems obvious that the family had a devotion to that particular saint Can we deduce a geographic origin from that fact Is it a marker of that particular family and can we go so far as to attribute a seal with saint Mark to a member of the family Saint Mark however is not the only saint chosen by members of this family The second frequent saint is the Virgin which may indicate that the family lived in Constantinople We shall briefly explore what can be said concerning the iconography of the seals belonging to the Xegraveroi

E Gerousi Δύο microολυβδόβουλλα του 9ου αιώνα από την περιοχή της βυζαντινής συνοικίας του Πυθαγορείου στη Σάmicroο

Σύmicroφωνα microε τις microέχρι σήmicroερα έρευνες η παραλιακή πόλη της Σάmicroου (σηmicroερινό Πυθαγόρειο) στα microέσα του 7ου αιώνα εγκαταλείφθηκε από τους κατοίκους της οι οποίοι κατέφυγαν σε ασφαλέστερα υψώmicroατα στην ενδοχώρα του νησιού Μετά την αποmicroάκρυνση του αραβικού κινδύνου ένα microέρος του πληθυσmicroού επέστρεψε και εγκαταστάθηκε στις ΝΑ πλαγιές του λόφου πάνω από το λιmicroάνι όπου και ιδρύθηκε το κάστρο της Σάmicroου Στα ανατολικά του οχυρωmicroατικού περιβόλου στο πρανές του λόφου οι σωστικές ανασκαφές στον πυκνοδοmicroηmicroένο οικισmicroό του σηmicroερινού Πυθαγορείου έχουν αποκαλύψει τη λεγόmicroενη βυζαντινή συνοικία που αποτελείται επίσης από microικρά πυκνά δοmicroηmicroένα σπίτια Σε παρόmicroοια έρευνα όπου αποκαλύφθηκαν λείψανα σπιτιών και τmicroήmicroατα αποχετευτικού αγωγού βυζαντινών χρόνων ανάmicroεσα στα λιγοστά ευρήmicroατα κυρίως θραύσmicroατα κεραmicroεικής βρέθηκαν δύο microολυβδόβουλλα που microπορούν να χρονολογηθούν στον 9ο αιώνα Και τα δύο φέρουν στη microία πλευρά σταυρόσχηmicroα microονογράmicromicroατα επικλήσεων και στην άλλη επιγραφές σε τέσσερις γραmicromicroές Η microία επιγραφή αναφέρει το όνοmicroα του Θεοδώρου και τα αξιώmicroατά του που ήταν του βασιλικού σπαθαρίου και στρατηγού Δυρραχίου και η άλλη το όνοmicroα του Γεωργίου τον τίτλο του ως πατρικίου και το αξίωmicroά του που ήταν του στρατηγού Ελλάδος Οι σφραγίδες των στρατηγών

δύο ισχυρών περιφερειακών στρατιωτικών διοικήσεων του βυζαντινού κράτους αποτελούν αφενός σηmicroαντική microαρτυρία για την οργάνωση του κράτους και τις επαφές microεταξύ των στρατηγών και αφετέρου για τη θέση του κάστρου της Σάmicroου αυτή την εποχή που αποτελεί ισχυρή βάση και κέντρο επιχειρήσεων του ναυτικού θέmicroατος των Κιβυρραιωτών

A Gkoutzioukostas Some Remarks on Mystographos and Mystolektes

This paper examines the offices of mystographos and mystolektes who are mentioned on seals of the 11th century but whose duties remain unknown According to certain scholars who base their assumption mainly on the evidence of seals the mystographos and the mystolektes were judicial officers However the testimony of other primary sources indicates that the duties of a mystographos were first and foremost secretarial In addition the evidence of seals does not prove that mystolektes was a judicial officer Perhaps he was an imperial messenger of some sort

M Gruumlnbart Sichern Bewahren und Vervielfaumlltigen Die Sammlung byzantinischer Alltagsgegenstaumlnde der Menil Collection in Houston Texas Im Herbst 2008 konnte eine Kooperation zwischen der Menil Collection in Houston Texas und dem Seminar fuumlr Byzantinistik der Universitaumlt Muumlnster beschlossen werden Ziel ist die Veroumlffentlichung der byzantinischen Metallgegenstaumlnde der texanischen Sammlung basierend auf den Vorarbeiten von Gary Vikan Neben Schluumlsseln und Schloumlssern gibt es auch eine groszlige Sammlung von Stempeln sowie einige byzantinische Bleisiegel

Ziel der Praumlsentation ist es die kulturhistorische Dimension dieser Sammlung anhand ausgewaumlhlter Objekte zu zeigen und auf allgemeine Fragen der Sicherheit in Byzanz einzugehen A Hoti ndash D Komatas Byzantine Epigraphs of Early Medieval Period in Albania (7th ndash 11th cent)

The inscriptional wealth of the Albanian territory contains some Byzantine epigraphy belonging to the early medieval period (7th -11th cent)

A number of gold and silver vessels found in the treasure of the Vrap village (12 km from Tirana) belong to the best genre of the Byzantine repertoire Three of them are worth mentioning two silver plates with the control seal of the Emperor Konstant II (644665 and 659663) a silver kettle with the Greek inscription -ΦΩNH KYPIOY EΠI TΩN YΔATΩN [Psalm 293] at the bottom of which the words KYPIE - BOHΘEI - TO ΔOYΛO - AMHN have been carved and a golden cup with Eucharistic motifs and the images of four cities in a niello where the names of the four cities have been inscribed in Greekdagger KωΝCΤΑΝΤΗΝΟΠΟΛΗC - dagger ΠωΛΗC KΥΠΡΟC ect The vessels were found along with belt buckles and ornamental inlays of the Avar type dating either in the second half of the 6th century up to the second half of the 7th century or to be more precise between the years 559-665

There have been recent discussions about the place where these vessels were produced We think that except for Constantinople ndash to which one of the vessels has been linked by the seal of the Emperor Konstant II - they could belong to any other gold and silver workshop of the Aegean One inscribed pillar discovered in Ballsh has been engraved in the Greek language The inscription speaks about an important event for the Bulgarian kingdom of which Arbanon was a part for a some timeIn this inscription is memorialized Czar Boris who was

baptized together with his people accepting the Christian Orthodox faith and taking the name of Mihal I in the year 866

Rings with the full inscription were discovered in the excavations made in the cemeteries of Dalmace Kruja Piskova etc A round bezel on the rings has an engraved inscription in three lines ANA-OHΘH-ICEB ANA-OHΘH-ICER ANA-OHΘH-ICEP Coins dating from the 9th-11th centuries were found together with some of the rings In the Byzantine inscriptions discovered in the Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres are mentioned the proto-martyr Saint Stephen whose name can be read on the left of the mosaicrsquos southern panel The Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres was built in the first half of the 5th century but previous studies and recent research have dated the mosaics and epigraphy to the 10th century I Jordanov Corpus of the Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria (1979-2009) ndash Conception and Results

I have been working on the project Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria for more

than thirty years The beginning was in 1979 when the foundations of a building used as archives by the local strategos in the period 971-1092 were discovered during archaeological excavations in the second medieval Bulgarian capital Preslav More than 500 Byzantine lead seals 250 lead blanks and 4 moulds for casting the blanks were found inside and near the building All these finds were included and commented on in the monographic volume ldquoThe seals from the Strategia of Preslav (971-1092)rdquo Along with the work on the Preslav seals my task has also been the location documentation and publication of all Byzantine seals from the territory of the today Bulgaria

As a result of my constant effort more than 3500 Byzantine seals 800 lead blanks 20 moulds for casting and 2 boulloteria have been located from the territory of modern Bulgaria and documented so far A portion of them has been published in the 1 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria vol I Byzantine Seals with Geographical Names Sofia 2003 2 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria Vol II Seals with Family Names Sofia 2006 3 Catalogue of Medieval Seals at the Regional Historical Museum of Shumenrdquo Shumen 2007

The third and last volume of the Corpus is in its final stage of completion It will practically include all sphragistic materials from the territory of modern Bulgaria

The texts of these seals undoubtedly serve as basic sources for Byzantine history rank hierarchy administration and prosopography In addition to that these seals can be used as sources for the history of specific settlements and regions

The paper deals with the various contributions of the material from Bulgaria in dating and interpretation of the texts on the seals

O Karagiorgou Strategoi of Hellas [with or without (Known) Boulloteria]

The present paper offers the first final report on one of the many issues examined under the wider and ongoing research project ldquoByzantine themes and sigillographyrdquo (first announced by the author in Paris 2001 and later in London 2006) which aims to reconstruct the administrative structure of the Byzantine Empire by arranging its various officials chronologically within the administrative sector and the theme they served as evident (primarily) by their lead seals and other sources

Among the various thematic officials the group of the strategoi deserves special attention as their office is directly linked to the creation and further development of the important administrative institution of the θέmicroατα It is thus evident that the reconstruction of

their lists in chronological sequence can offer (under specific conditions) a new research tool not just on the origins and general history of the themes but also on more specific questions such as the (still debated) length of their tenure or the narrower dating of their bullae

With specific examples from the corpus of the strategoi of Hellas this paper discusses first of all problems of methodology in the selection evaluation and presentation of the relevant sigillographic material with special reference to the difficult issues of identification and dating It then investigates how all this information interrelates with evidence from other sources and it concludes by showing how this and similar studies can enhance our understanding of the Byzantine administration and prosopography as well as of the general history of Byzantium

Th Kourempanas The Seal of the First Known Katepano of Italy

The present paper deals with the seal of Michael katepano of Italy Even though this person is known from literary sources his seal is unpublished and belongs to a private collection The provenance the iconography of the seal and the imperial administration of the Byzantine part of the peninsula will be discussed during this presentation

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί το microολυβδόβουλλο του Μιχαήλ του πρώτου κατεπάνω Ιταλίας Αν και το πρόσωπο αυτό είναι γνωστό από φιλολογικές πηγές το microολυβδόβουλλο αυτού του αξιωmicroατούχου παραmicroένει αδηmicroοσίευτο Ο τόπος εύρεσης η εικονογραφία της σφραγίδας και η οργάνωση της βυζαντινής διοίκησης θα αποτελέσουν τα αντικείmicroενα microελέτης στην παρουσίαση αυτή I Leontiades Byzantine Seals with Family Names This paper looks at a number of lead seals of the Late Byzantine period The names on them are in some cases very well known and in others less familiar Reference is also made to other published and unpublished seals of these persons and members of the same families The information in Byzantine sources about these persons and families is examined and there is some discussion of related prosopographical and historical problems I Koltsida-Makri Lead Seals from Excavations in Greece

The historical value of lead seals with certain origin is unquestionably significant for the reason that these seals enable us to register sufficiently the correspondence distribution in Byzantine era Furthermore the geographical dispersion of the seals consists a precious knowledge for detecting the communication status of the central administration in Constantinople with the regional centres on the one hand and the contacts of the provinces between them on the other

Apart from the lead seals still hanging on the documents they sealed which are rare cases (such as the documents of the Holy Mountain) the seals with certain origin can be in general divided in two categories casual finds that have been located on specific sites and excavation finds The last ones surely have the advantage over the first exactly because they come to light in a context easily detectable due to correlations with the rest of the finds originating from the same excavation Consequently these seals offer much more concrete and ample evidence to the scholars

The subject was treated for the first time during the second International Symposium of Byzantine Sigillography that took place in Athens in the year 1988 (cf SBS 2 1990 proceedings of the Symposium) That was the first effort for a systematic study presentation and registration of lead seals with certain origin In the twenty years they have passed ever since this

important reservoir of knowledge has been enriched with new data which this paper aims to present for the hellenic territory Mutatis mudandis the number of lead seals that have been found out during excavation works in Greece in the last twenty years is not big However the new evidence especially located in Northen Greece (MaKedonia and Thrace) is considered important because it may sufficiently add new issues to the correspondence distribution during the byzantine period in the west provinces of the Imperium corresponding to the boundaries of the modern hellenic state

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης έχουν αναmicroφισβήτητα microεγάλη ιστορική αξία κυρίως διότι microας επιτρέπουν να καταγράψουmicroε microε ικανοποιητική ακρίβεια τη διακίνηση της αλληλογραφίας κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους Αυτή η πολύτιmicroη γνώση της γεωγραφικής διασποράς των σφραγίδων βοηθά να εντοπίσουmicroε ποιες περιοχές της περιφέρειας είχαν συχνή επικοινωνία microε την κεντρική διοίκηση στην πρωτεύουσα αλλά και ποια περιφερειακά διοικητικά κέντρα είχαν συχνότερες επαφές microεταξύ τους

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης διακρίνονται σε δύο κατηγορίες η πρώτη αφορά στα τυχαία ευρήmicroατα τα οποία έχουν εντοπισθεί σε συγκεκριmicroένη γεωγραφική θέση και η δεύτερη στα ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα τα οποία ασφαλώς πλεονεκτούν σε σχέση microε αυτά της πρώτης κατηγορίας επειδή ακριβώς αποκαλύπτονται σε περιβάλλον που microπορεί να διαγνωστεί πολύ ευκολότερα λόγω συσχετισmicroών και microε τα λοιπά ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα και κατά συνέπεια οι πληροφορίες που προσφέρουν microπορούν να καταστούν σαφώς πληρέστερες

Το δεύτερο Διεθνές Συmicroπόσιο Βυζαντινής Σφραγιδογραφίας που πραγmicroατοποιήθηκε στο Νοmicroισmicroατικό Μουσείο Αθηνών το έτος 1988 [πρβλ SBS 2(1990) ο τόmicroος αυτός αποτελεί έκδοση των πρακτικών του Συνεδρίου] είχε ως θέmicroα τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης και τη σηmicroασία τους Τότε τέθηκε για πρώτη φορά το ζήτηmicroα στην πραγmicroατική του διάσταση και έγινε microια πρώτη προσπάθεια συστηmicroατικής καταγραφής και παρουσίασης των microολυβδοβούλλων microε ακριβή προέλευση Στα είκοσι χρόνια που microεσολάβησαν η σπουδαία αυτή δεξαmicroενή γνώσης εmicroπλουτίστηκε microε νέα δεδοmicroένα τα οποία η παρούσα ανακοίνωση επιδιώκει να καλύψει για τον ελληνικό χώρο Τηρουmicroένων βεβαίως των αναλογιών ο αριθmicroός των microολυβδοβούλλων που έχουν έλθει στο φως στη διάρκεια ανασκαφών κατά την τελευταία εικοσαετία στην Ελλάδα δεν είναι microεγάλος ωστόσο οι νέες microαρτυρίες που εντοπίζονται κυρίως στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα στην περιοχή της Μακεδονίας και Θράκης θεωρούνται σηmicroαντικές διότι βοηθούν να συmicroπληρωθεί σε ικανοποιητικό βαθmicroό η εικόνα της διακίνησης της αλληλογραφίας στα βυζαντινά χρόνια στις microικρές δυτικές επαρχίες της Αυτοκρατορίας που αντιστοιχούν στα όρια της σύγχρονης ελληνικής επικράτειας

K Mantzana - CTsodoulos Unedited Patriarchal Sigillia of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos at Meteora

In the present statement they will be presented three Patriarchal sigillia which are kept in the Sacristy of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos one of the most important monasteries of Meteora In sigillia is provided information concerning the privileges of the Monastery They inform us about the administrative autonomy and the safeguarding of its land and the holy relics Sigillia bring lead seals which in the obverse depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus while the reverse bears the embossed name and title of each Ecumenical Patriarch (Raphael II (1605) Paisios II (1743) and Gregory VI (1838)) as well it is mentioned the year of publication of sigillia

Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιασθούν τρία Πατριαρχικά σιγίλλια τα οποία φυλάσσονται στο Σκευοφυλάκιο της Ιεράς Μονής Αγίου Στεφάνου microιας εκ των σπουδαιοτέρων Μονών των Μετεώρων Στα σιγίλλια αυτά παρέχονται στοιχεία που αφορούν στα προνόmicroια της

Ιεράς Μονής Μας πληροφορούν για τη διοικητική αυτονοmicroία και τη διασφάλιση των κτηmicroάτων και των ιερών λειψάνων της Φέρουν microολυβδόβουλα στα οποία στον εmicroπροσθότυπο απεικονίζεται η Παναγία Βρεφοκρατούσα ενώ ο οπισθότυπος φέρει έκτυπο το όνοmicroα και τον τίτλο του εκάστοτε Οικουmicroενικού Πατριάρχη (Ραφαήλ Βrsquo(1605) Παΐσιος Βrsquo (1743) και Γρηγόριος Στrsquo (1838)) καθώς επίσης αναφέρεται και το έτος εκδόσεως του σιγιλλίου

A Mazarakes Το microολυβδόβουλο του Ιωάννη Χαmicroαρέτου

The presence of the Chamaretos family in the area of Lacedaemon is an ever challenging historical realm always prompting the researcher to further investigation although we already have a good picture of their role and influence thanks to the Sigilography stemming from historical sources dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries

The ascension of Ioannis Chamaretos in the rank of a Despot one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire is of course already known to us It had never been clear however under what conditions this climbing of the hierarchy ladder was in fact realized

The finding of a lead seal mentioning Ioannis Chamaretos as the Despot of the Laconians introduces us with a new aspect concerning the history of the family and is quite revealing as to the taking over of Sparta by the Franks not to mention the fact that it is our only source of information pertaining to the place where Ioannis Chamaretos fled ndash his private homeland the castle of Maina in Laconia

The inscription on the lead seal divided into verses written in iambic trimeter is as follows Seal writing Despot Chamaretos Ioannis Despot of Maina of the Laconians

The laconic phrasing of the inscription that makes no reference as to the holder of the lead seal or to his past titles coupled with the fact that nothing whatsoever concerning the ties of the Chamaretos family with the area of Lacedaemon is mentioned leads us to chronologically place the lead seal in 121112 that is after the conquest of the city of Sparta by the Franks

His relationship with the area of Lacedaemon remains ambiguous probably deliberately so due to perhaps political reasons On the other hand his attitude shows a constant or uninterrupted relationship with Mani the land of the Laconians as was also the case with Leo Chamaretos the predecessor of Ioannis He too held the title of tyrant of the Laconians

In 1222 Ioannis Chamaretos fled to the court of Theodoros Comnenos A political conflict between himself and his relative G Daemonogiannis was partly to blame for his escape Even when retired to the castle of Mani Ioannis Chamaretos did not cease to be constantly involved in political skirmishes against the invaders of his land He allegedly managed to reach the region of Epirus after he was left to die at some isolated beach by his opponent and relative G Daemonogiannis To us this probability seems highly remote so we may just assume that his end reached us in a dramatized version

What it all boils down to finally is that Ioannis Chamaretos somehow managed to outlive the wrath of his rivals and to reach the court of Theodoros Comnenos thus sealing a whole chapter of the history not only of his family but also of Laconia

J Nesbitt - J Cotsonis The Image of the Doubting Thomas on an Unpublished Seal of the 6th Century St Thomas is only rarely depicted on Byzantine seals For example in volume 1 of Zacos and Vegleryrsquos Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) one encounters only a single representation of this apostle (no 1292)mdasha (highly corroded) profile bust To this limited range of citations may be added a seal preserved in a private collection If the object and its decoration were simply a question of another bust the significance of the specimen and its

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

δύο ισχυρών περιφερειακών στρατιωτικών διοικήσεων του βυζαντινού κράτους αποτελούν αφενός σηmicroαντική microαρτυρία για την οργάνωση του κράτους και τις επαφές microεταξύ των στρατηγών και αφετέρου για τη θέση του κάστρου της Σάmicroου αυτή την εποχή που αποτελεί ισχυρή βάση και κέντρο επιχειρήσεων του ναυτικού θέmicroατος των Κιβυρραιωτών

A Gkoutzioukostas Some Remarks on Mystographos and Mystolektes

This paper examines the offices of mystographos and mystolektes who are mentioned on seals of the 11th century but whose duties remain unknown According to certain scholars who base their assumption mainly on the evidence of seals the mystographos and the mystolektes were judicial officers However the testimony of other primary sources indicates that the duties of a mystographos were first and foremost secretarial In addition the evidence of seals does not prove that mystolektes was a judicial officer Perhaps he was an imperial messenger of some sort

M Gruumlnbart Sichern Bewahren und Vervielfaumlltigen Die Sammlung byzantinischer Alltagsgegenstaumlnde der Menil Collection in Houston Texas Im Herbst 2008 konnte eine Kooperation zwischen der Menil Collection in Houston Texas und dem Seminar fuumlr Byzantinistik der Universitaumlt Muumlnster beschlossen werden Ziel ist die Veroumlffentlichung der byzantinischen Metallgegenstaumlnde der texanischen Sammlung basierend auf den Vorarbeiten von Gary Vikan Neben Schluumlsseln und Schloumlssern gibt es auch eine groszlige Sammlung von Stempeln sowie einige byzantinische Bleisiegel

Ziel der Praumlsentation ist es die kulturhistorische Dimension dieser Sammlung anhand ausgewaumlhlter Objekte zu zeigen und auf allgemeine Fragen der Sicherheit in Byzanz einzugehen A Hoti ndash D Komatas Byzantine Epigraphs of Early Medieval Period in Albania (7th ndash 11th cent)

The inscriptional wealth of the Albanian territory contains some Byzantine epigraphy belonging to the early medieval period (7th -11th cent)

A number of gold and silver vessels found in the treasure of the Vrap village (12 km from Tirana) belong to the best genre of the Byzantine repertoire Three of them are worth mentioning two silver plates with the control seal of the Emperor Konstant II (644665 and 659663) a silver kettle with the Greek inscription -ΦΩNH KYPIOY EΠI TΩN YΔATΩN [Psalm 293] at the bottom of which the words KYPIE - BOHΘEI - TO ΔOYΛO - AMHN have been carved and a golden cup with Eucharistic motifs and the images of four cities in a niello where the names of the four cities have been inscribed in Greekdagger KωΝCΤΑΝΤΗΝΟΠΟΛΗC - dagger ΠωΛΗC KΥΠΡΟC ect The vessels were found along with belt buckles and ornamental inlays of the Avar type dating either in the second half of the 6th century up to the second half of the 7th century or to be more precise between the years 559-665

There have been recent discussions about the place where these vessels were produced We think that except for Constantinople ndash to which one of the vessels has been linked by the seal of the Emperor Konstant II - they could belong to any other gold and silver workshop of the Aegean One inscribed pillar discovered in Ballsh has been engraved in the Greek language The inscription speaks about an important event for the Bulgarian kingdom of which Arbanon was a part for a some timeIn this inscription is memorialized Czar Boris who was

baptized together with his people accepting the Christian Orthodox faith and taking the name of Mihal I in the year 866

Rings with the full inscription were discovered in the excavations made in the cemeteries of Dalmace Kruja Piskova etc A round bezel on the rings has an engraved inscription in three lines ANA-OHΘH-ICEB ANA-OHΘH-ICER ANA-OHΘH-ICEP Coins dating from the 9th-11th centuries were found together with some of the rings In the Byzantine inscriptions discovered in the Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres are mentioned the proto-martyr Saint Stephen whose name can be read on the left of the mosaicrsquos southern panel The Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres was built in the first half of the 5th century but previous studies and recent research have dated the mosaics and epigraphy to the 10th century I Jordanov Corpus of the Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria (1979-2009) ndash Conception and Results

I have been working on the project Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria for more

than thirty years The beginning was in 1979 when the foundations of a building used as archives by the local strategos in the period 971-1092 were discovered during archaeological excavations in the second medieval Bulgarian capital Preslav More than 500 Byzantine lead seals 250 lead blanks and 4 moulds for casting the blanks were found inside and near the building All these finds were included and commented on in the monographic volume ldquoThe seals from the Strategia of Preslav (971-1092)rdquo Along with the work on the Preslav seals my task has also been the location documentation and publication of all Byzantine seals from the territory of the today Bulgaria

As a result of my constant effort more than 3500 Byzantine seals 800 lead blanks 20 moulds for casting and 2 boulloteria have been located from the territory of modern Bulgaria and documented so far A portion of them has been published in the 1 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria vol I Byzantine Seals with Geographical Names Sofia 2003 2 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria Vol II Seals with Family Names Sofia 2006 3 Catalogue of Medieval Seals at the Regional Historical Museum of Shumenrdquo Shumen 2007

The third and last volume of the Corpus is in its final stage of completion It will practically include all sphragistic materials from the territory of modern Bulgaria

The texts of these seals undoubtedly serve as basic sources for Byzantine history rank hierarchy administration and prosopography In addition to that these seals can be used as sources for the history of specific settlements and regions

The paper deals with the various contributions of the material from Bulgaria in dating and interpretation of the texts on the seals

O Karagiorgou Strategoi of Hellas [with or without (Known) Boulloteria]

The present paper offers the first final report on one of the many issues examined under the wider and ongoing research project ldquoByzantine themes and sigillographyrdquo (first announced by the author in Paris 2001 and later in London 2006) which aims to reconstruct the administrative structure of the Byzantine Empire by arranging its various officials chronologically within the administrative sector and the theme they served as evident (primarily) by their lead seals and other sources

Among the various thematic officials the group of the strategoi deserves special attention as their office is directly linked to the creation and further development of the important administrative institution of the θέmicroατα It is thus evident that the reconstruction of

their lists in chronological sequence can offer (under specific conditions) a new research tool not just on the origins and general history of the themes but also on more specific questions such as the (still debated) length of their tenure or the narrower dating of their bullae

With specific examples from the corpus of the strategoi of Hellas this paper discusses first of all problems of methodology in the selection evaluation and presentation of the relevant sigillographic material with special reference to the difficult issues of identification and dating It then investigates how all this information interrelates with evidence from other sources and it concludes by showing how this and similar studies can enhance our understanding of the Byzantine administration and prosopography as well as of the general history of Byzantium

Th Kourempanas The Seal of the First Known Katepano of Italy

The present paper deals with the seal of Michael katepano of Italy Even though this person is known from literary sources his seal is unpublished and belongs to a private collection The provenance the iconography of the seal and the imperial administration of the Byzantine part of the peninsula will be discussed during this presentation

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί το microολυβδόβουλλο του Μιχαήλ του πρώτου κατεπάνω Ιταλίας Αν και το πρόσωπο αυτό είναι γνωστό από φιλολογικές πηγές το microολυβδόβουλλο αυτού του αξιωmicroατούχου παραmicroένει αδηmicroοσίευτο Ο τόπος εύρεσης η εικονογραφία της σφραγίδας και η οργάνωση της βυζαντινής διοίκησης θα αποτελέσουν τα αντικείmicroενα microελέτης στην παρουσίαση αυτή I Leontiades Byzantine Seals with Family Names This paper looks at a number of lead seals of the Late Byzantine period The names on them are in some cases very well known and in others less familiar Reference is also made to other published and unpublished seals of these persons and members of the same families The information in Byzantine sources about these persons and families is examined and there is some discussion of related prosopographical and historical problems I Koltsida-Makri Lead Seals from Excavations in Greece

The historical value of lead seals with certain origin is unquestionably significant for the reason that these seals enable us to register sufficiently the correspondence distribution in Byzantine era Furthermore the geographical dispersion of the seals consists a precious knowledge for detecting the communication status of the central administration in Constantinople with the regional centres on the one hand and the contacts of the provinces between them on the other

Apart from the lead seals still hanging on the documents they sealed which are rare cases (such as the documents of the Holy Mountain) the seals with certain origin can be in general divided in two categories casual finds that have been located on specific sites and excavation finds The last ones surely have the advantage over the first exactly because they come to light in a context easily detectable due to correlations with the rest of the finds originating from the same excavation Consequently these seals offer much more concrete and ample evidence to the scholars

The subject was treated for the first time during the second International Symposium of Byzantine Sigillography that took place in Athens in the year 1988 (cf SBS 2 1990 proceedings of the Symposium) That was the first effort for a systematic study presentation and registration of lead seals with certain origin In the twenty years they have passed ever since this

important reservoir of knowledge has been enriched with new data which this paper aims to present for the hellenic territory Mutatis mudandis the number of lead seals that have been found out during excavation works in Greece in the last twenty years is not big However the new evidence especially located in Northen Greece (MaKedonia and Thrace) is considered important because it may sufficiently add new issues to the correspondence distribution during the byzantine period in the west provinces of the Imperium corresponding to the boundaries of the modern hellenic state

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης έχουν αναmicroφισβήτητα microεγάλη ιστορική αξία κυρίως διότι microας επιτρέπουν να καταγράψουmicroε microε ικανοποιητική ακρίβεια τη διακίνηση της αλληλογραφίας κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους Αυτή η πολύτιmicroη γνώση της γεωγραφικής διασποράς των σφραγίδων βοηθά να εντοπίσουmicroε ποιες περιοχές της περιφέρειας είχαν συχνή επικοινωνία microε την κεντρική διοίκηση στην πρωτεύουσα αλλά και ποια περιφερειακά διοικητικά κέντρα είχαν συχνότερες επαφές microεταξύ τους

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης διακρίνονται σε δύο κατηγορίες η πρώτη αφορά στα τυχαία ευρήmicroατα τα οποία έχουν εντοπισθεί σε συγκεκριmicroένη γεωγραφική θέση και η δεύτερη στα ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα τα οποία ασφαλώς πλεονεκτούν σε σχέση microε αυτά της πρώτης κατηγορίας επειδή ακριβώς αποκαλύπτονται σε περιβάλλον που microπορεί να διαγνωστεί πολύ ευκολότερα λόγω συσχετισmicroών και microε τα λοιπά ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα και κατά συνέπεια οι πληροφορίες που προσφέρουν microπορούν να καταστούν σαφώς πληρέστερες

Το δεύτερο Διεθνές Συmicroπόσιο Βυζαντινής Σφραγιδογραφίας που πραγmicroατοποιήθηκε στο Νοmicroισmicroατικό Μουσείο Αθηνών το έτος 1988 [πρβλ SBS 2(1990) ο τόmicroος αυτός αποτελεί έκδοση των πρακτικών του Συνεδρίου] είχε ως θέmicroα τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης και τη σηmicroασία τους Τότε τέθηκε για πρώτη φορά το ζήτηmicroα στην πραγmicroατική του διάσταση και έγινε microια πρώτη προσπάθεια συστηmicroατικής καταγραφής και παρουσίασης των microολυβδοβούλλων microε ακριβή προέλευση Στα είκοσι χρόνια που microεσολάβησαν η σπουδαία αυτή δεξαmicroενή γνώσης εmicroπλουτίστηκε microε νέα δεδοmicroένα τα οποία η παρούσα ανακοίνωση επιδιώκει να καλύψει για τον ελληνικό χώρο Τηρουmicroένων βεβαίως των αναλογιών ο αριθmicroός των microολυβδοβούλλων που έχουν έλθει στο φως στη διάρκεια ανασκαφών κατά την τελευταία εικοσαετία στην Ελλάδα δεν είναι microεγάλος ωστόσο οι νέες microαρτυρίες που εντοπίζονται κυρίως στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα στην περιοχή της Μακεδονίας και Θράκης θεωρούνται σηmicroαντικές διότι βοηθούν να συmicroπληρωθεί σε ικανοποιητικό βαθmicroό η εικόνα της διακίνησης της αλληλογραφίας στα βυζαντινά χρόνια στις microικρές δυτικές επαρχίες της Αυτοκρατορίας που αντιστοιχούν στα όρια της σύγχρονης ελληνικής επικράτειας

K Mantzana - CTsodoulos Unedited Patriarchal Sigillia of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos at Meteora

In the present statement they will be presented three Patriarchal sigillia which are kept in the Sacristy of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos one of the most important monasteries of Meteora In sigillia is provided information concerning the privileges of the Monastery They inform us about the administrative autonomy and the safeguarding of its land and the holy relics Sigillia bring lead seals which in the obverse depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus while the reverse bears the embossed name and title of each Ecumenical Patriarch (Raphael II (1605) Paisios II (1743) and Gregory VI (1838)) as well it is mentioned the year of publication of sigillia

Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιασθούν τρία Πατριαρχικά σιγίλλια τα οποία φυλάσσονται στο Σκευοφυλάκιο της Ιεράς Μονής Αγίου Στεφάνου microιας εκ των σπουδαιοτέρων Μονών των Μετεώρων Στα σιγίλλια αυτά παρέχονται στοιχεία που αφορούν στα προνόmicroια της

Ιεράς Μονής Μας πληροφορούν για τη διοικητική αυτονοmicroία και τη διασφάλιση των κτηmicroάτων και των ιερών λειψάνων της Φέρουν microολυβδόβουλα στα οποία στον εmicroπροσθότυπο απεικονίζεται η Παναγία Βρεφοκρατούσα ενώ ο οπισθότυπος φέρει έκτυπο το όνοmicroα και τον τίτλο του εκάστοτε Οικουmicroενικού Πατριάρχη (Ραφαήλ Βrsquo(1605) Παΐσιος Βrsquo (1743) και Γρηγόριος Στrsquo (1838)) καθώς επίσης αναφέρεται και το έτος εκδόσεως του σιγιλλίου

A Mazarakes Το microολυβδόβουλο του Ιωάννη Χαmicroαρέτου

The presence of the Chamaretos family in the area of Lacedaemon is an ever challenging historical realm always prompting the researcher to further investigation although we already have a good picture of their role and influence thanks to the Sigilography stemming from historical sources dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries

The ascension of Ioannis Chamaretos in the rank of a Despot one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire is of course already known to us It had never been clear however under what conditions this climbing of the hierarchy ladder was in fact realized

The finding of a lead seal mentioning Ioannis Chamaretos as the Despot of the Laconians introduces us with a new aspect concerning the history of the family and is quite revealing as to the taking over of Sparta by the Franks not to mention the fact that it is our only source of information pertaining to the place where Ioannis Chamaretos fled ndash his private homeland the castle of Maina in Laconia

The inscription on the lead seal divided into verses written in iambic trimeter is as follows Seal writing Despot Chamaretos Ioannis Despot of Maina of the Laconians

The laconic phrasing of the inscription that makes no reference as to the holder of the lead seal or to his past titles coupled with the fact that nothing whatsoever concerning the ties of the Chamaretos family with the area of Lacedaemon is mentioned leads us to chronologically place the lead seal in 121112 that is after the conquest of the city of Sparta by the Franks

His relationship with the area of Lacedaemon remains ambiguous probably deliberately so due to perhaps political reasons On the other hand his attitude shows a constant or uninterrupted relationship with Mani the land of the Laconians as was also the case with Leo Chamaretos the predecessor of Ioannis He too held the title of tyrant of the Laconians

In 1222 Ioannis Chamaretos fled to the court of Theodoros Comnenos A political conflict between himself and his relative G Daemonogiannis was partly to blame for his escape Even when retired to the castle of Mani Ioannis Chamaretos did not cease to be constantly involved in political skirmishes against the invaders of his land He allegedly managed to reach the region of Epirus after he was left to die at some isolated beach by his opponent and relative G Daemonogiannis To us this probability seems highly remote so we may just assume that his end reached us in a dramatized version

What it all boils down to finally is that Ioannis Chamaretos somehow managed to outlive the wrath of his rivals and to reach the court of Theodoros Comnenos thus sealing a whole chapter of the history not only of his family but also of Laconia

J Nesbitt - J Cotsonis The Image of the Doubting Thomas on an Unpublished Seal of the 6th Century St Thomas is only rarely depicted on Byzantine seals For example in volume 1 of Zacos and Vegleryrsquos Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) one encounters only a single representation of this apostle (no 1292)mdasha (highly corroded) profile bust To this limited range of citations may be added a seal preserved in a private collection If the object and its decoration were simply a question of another bust the significance of the specimen and its

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

baptized together with his people accepting the Christian Orthodox faith and taking the name of Mihal I in the year 866

Rings with the full inscription were discovered in the excavations made in the cemeteries of Dalmace Kruja Piskova etc A round bezel on the rings has an engraved inscription in three lines ANA-OHΘH-ICEB ANA-OHΘH-ICER ANA-OHΘH-ICEP Coins dating from the 9th-11th centuries were found together with some of the rings In the Byzantine inscriptions discovered in the Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres are mentioned the proto-martyr Saint Stephen whose name can be read on the left of the mosaicrsquos southern panel The Amphitheatrersquos Chapel in Durres was built in the first half of the 5th century but previous studies and recent research have dated the mosaics and epigraphy to the 10th century I Jordanov Corpus of the Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria (1979-2009) ndash Conception and Results

I have been working on the project Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria for more

than thirty years The beginning was in 1979 when the foundations of a building used as archives by the local strategos in the period 971-1092 were discovered during archaeological excavations in the second medieval Bulgarian capital Preslav More than 500 Byzantine lead seals 250 lead blanks and 4 moulds for casting the blanks were found inside and near the building All these finds were included and commented on in the monographic volume ldquoThe seals from the Strategia of Preslav (971-1092)rdquo Along with the work on the Preslav seals my task has also been the location documentation and publication of all Byzantine seals from the territory of the today Bulgaria

As a result of my constant effort more than 3500 Byzantine seals 800 lead blanks 20 moulds for casting and 2 boulloteria have been located from the territory of modern Bulgaria and documented so far A portion of them has been published in the 1 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria vol I Byzantine Seals with Geographical Names Sofia 2003 2 Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria Vol II Seals with Family Names Sofia 2006 3 Catalogue of Medieval Seals at the Regional Historical Museum of Shumenrdquo Shumen 2007

The third and last volume of the Corpus is in its final stage of completion It will practically include all sphragistic materials from the territory of modern Bulgaria

The texts of these seals undoubtedly serve as basic sources for Byzantine history rank hierarchy administration and prosopography In addition to that these seals can be used as sources for the history of specific settlements and regions

The paper deals with the various contributions of the material from Bulgaria in dating and interpretation of the texts on the seals

O Karagiorgou Strategoi of Hellas [with or without (Known) Boulloteria]

The present paper offers the first final report on one of the many issues examined under the wider and ongoing research project ldquoByzantine themes and sigillographyrdquo (first announced by the author in Paris 2001 and later in London 2006) which aims to reconstruct the administrative structure of the Byzantine Empire by arranging its various officials chronologically within the administrative sector and the theme they served as evident (primarily) by their lead seals and other sources

Among the various thematic officials the group of the strategoi deserves special attention as their office is directly linked to the creation and further development of the important administrative institution of the θέmicroατα It is thus evident that the reconstruction of

their lists in chronological sequence can offer (under specific conditions) a new research tool not just on the origins and general history of the themes but also on more specific questions such as the (still debated) length of their tenure or the narrower dating of their bullae

With specific examples from the corpus of the strategoi of Hellas this paper discusses first of all problems of methodology in the selection evaluation and presentation of the relevant sigillographic material with special reference to the difficult issues of identification and dating It then investigates how all this information interrelates with evidence from other sources and it concludes by showing how this and similar studies can enhance our understanding of the Byzantine administration and prosopography as well as of the general history of Byzantium

Th Kourempanas The Seal of the First Known Katepano of Italy

The present paper deals with the seal of Michael katepano of Italy Even though this person is known from literary sources his seal is unpublished and belongs to a private collection The provenance the iconography of the seal and the imperial administration of the Byzantine part of the peninsula will be discussed during this presentation

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί το microολυβδόβουλλο του Μιχαήλ του πρώτου κατεπάνω Ιταλίας Αν και το πρόσωπο αυτό είναι γνωστό από φιλολογικές πηγές το microολυβδόβουλλο αυτού του αξιωmicroατούχου παραmicroένει αδηmicroοσίευτο Ο τόπος εύρεσης η εικονογραφία της σφραγίδας και η οργάνωση της βυζαντινής διοίκησης θα αποτελέσουν τα αντικείmicroενα microελέτης στην παρουσίαση αυτή I Leontiades Byzantine Seals with Family Names This paper looks at a number of lead seals of the Late Byzantine period The names on them are in some cases very well known and in others less familiar Reference is also made to other published and unpublished seals of these persons and members of the same families The information in Byzantine sources about these persons and families is examined and there is some discussion of related prosopographical and historical problems I Koltsida-Makri Lead Seals from Excavations in Greece

The historical value of lead seals with certain origin is unquestionably significant for the reason that these seals enable us to register sufficiently the correspondence distribution in Byzantine era Furthermore the geographical dispersion of the seals consists a precious knowledge for detecting the communication status of the central administration in Constantinople with the regional centres on the one hand and the contacts of the provinces between them on the other

Apart from the lead seals still hanging on the documents they sealed which are rare cases (such as the documents of the Holy Mountain) the seals with certain origin can be in general divided in two categories casual finds that have been located on specific sites and excavation finds The last ones surely have the advantage over the first exactly because they come to light in a context easily detectable due to correlations with the rest of the finds originating from the same excavation Consequently these seals offer much more concrete and ample evidence to the scholars

The subject was treated for the first time during the second International Symposium of Byzantine Sigillography that took place in Athens in the year 1988 (cf SBS 2 1990 proceedings of the Symposium) That was the first effort for a systematic study presentation and registration of lead seals with certain origin In the twenty years they have passed ever since this

important reservoir of knowledge has been enriched with new data which this paper aims to present for the hellenic territory Mutatis mudandis the number of lead seals that have been found out during excavation works in Greece in the last twenty years is not big However the new evidence especially located in Northen Greece (MaKedonia and Thrace) is considered important because it may sufficiently add new issues to the correspondence distribution during the byzantine period in the west provinces of the Imperium corresponding to the boundaries of the modern hellenic state

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης έχουν αναmicroφισβήτητα microεγάλη ιστορική αξία κυρίως διότι microας επιτρέπουν να καταγράψουmicroε microε ικανοποιητική ακρίβεια τη διακίνηση της αλληλογραφίας κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους Αυτή η πολύτιmicroη γνώση της γεωγραφικής διασποράς των σφραγίδων βοηθά να εντοπίσουmicroε ποιες περιοχές της περιφέρειας είχαν συχνή επικοινωνία microε την κεντρική διοίκηση στην πρωτεύουσα αλλά και ποια περιφερειακά διοικητικά κέντρα είχαν συχνότερες επαφές microεταξύ τους

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης διακρίνονται σε δύο κατηγορίες η πρώτη αφορά στα τυχαία ευρήmicroατα τα οποία έχουν εντοπισθεί σε συγκεκριmicroένη γεωγραφική θέση και η δεύτερη στα ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα τα οποία ασφαλώς πλεονεκτούν σε σχέση microε αυτά της πρώτης κατηγορίας επειδή ακριβώς αποκαλύπτονται σε περιβάλλον που microπορεί να διαγνωστεί πολύ ευκολότερα λόγω συσχετισmicroών και microε τα λοιπά ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα και κατά συνέπεια οι πληροφορίες που προσφέρουν microπορούν να καταστούν σαφώς πληρέστερες

Το δεύτερο Διεθνές Συmicroπόσιο Βυζαντινής Σφραγιδογραφίας που πραγmicroατοποιήθηκε στο Νοmicroισmicroατικό Μουσείο Αθηνών το έτος 1988 [πρβλ SBS 2(1990) ο τόmicroος αυτός αποτελεί έκδοση των πρακτικών του Συνεδρίου] είχε ως θέmicroα τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης και τη σηmicroασία τους Τότε τέθηκε για πρώτη φορά το ζήτηmicroα στην πραγmicroατική του διάσταση και έγινε microια πρώτη προσπάθεια συστηmicroατικής καταγραφής και παρουσίασης των microολυβδοβούλλων microε ακριβή προέλευση Στα είκοσι χρόνια που microεσολάβησαν η σπουδαία αυτή δεξαmicroενή γνώσης εmicroπλουτίστηκε microε νέα δεδοmicroένα τα οποία η παρούσα ανακοίνωση επιδιώκει να καλύψει για τον ελληνικό χώρο Τηρουmicroένων βεβαίως των αναλογιών ο αριθmicroός των microολυβδοβούλλων που έχουν έλθει στο φως στη διάρκεια ανασκαφών κατά την τελευταία εικοσαετία στην Ελλάδα δεν είναι microεγάλος ωστόσο οι νέες microαρτυρίες που εντοπίζονται κυρίως στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα στην περιοχή της Μακεδονίας και Θράκης θεωρούνται σηmicroαντικές διότι βοηθούν να συmicroπληρωθεί σε ικανοποιητικό βαθmicroό η εικόνα της διακίνησης της αλληλογραφίας στα βυζαντινά χρόνια στις microικρές δυτικές επαρχίες της Αυτοκρατορίας που αντιστοιχούν στα όρια της σύγχρονης ελληνικής επικράτειας

K Mantzana - CTsodoulos Unedited Patriarchal Sigillia of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos at Meteora

In the present statement they will be presented three Patriarchal sigillia which are kept in the Sacristy of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos one of the most important monasteries of Meteora In sigillia is provided information concerning the privileges of the Monastery They inform us about the administrative autonomy and the safeguarding of its land and the holy relics Sigillia bring lead seals which in the obverse depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus while the reverse bears the embossed name and title of each Ecumenical Patriarch (Raphael II (1605) Paisios II (1743) and Gregory VI (1838)) as well it is mentioned the year of publication of sigillia

Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιασθούν τρία Πατριαρχικά σιγίλλια τα οποία φυλάσσονται στο Σκευοφυλάκιο της Ιεράς Μονής Αγίου Στεφάνου microιας εκ των σπουδαιοτέρων Μονών των Μετεώρων Στα σιγίλλια αυτά παρέχονται στοιχεία που αφορούν στα προνόmicroια της

Ιεράς Μονής Μας πληροφορούν για τη διοικητική αυτονοmicroία και τη διασφάλιση των κτηmicroάτων και των ιερών λειψάνων της Φέρουν microολυβδόβουλα στα οποία στον εmicroπροσθότυπο απεικονίζεται η Παναγία Βρεφοκρατούσα ενώ ο οπισθότυπος φέρει έκτυπο το όνοmicroα και τον τίτλο του εκάστοτε Οικουmicroενικού Πατριάρχη (Ραφαήλ Βrsquo(1605) Παΐσιος Βrsquo (1743) και Γρηγόριος Στrsquo (1838)) καθώς επίσης αναφέρεται και το έτος εκδόσεως του σιγιλλίου

A Mazarakes Το microολυβδόβουλο του Ιωάννη Χαmicroαρέτου

The presence of the Chamaretos family in the area of Lacedaemon is an ever challenging historical realm always prompting the researcher to further investigation although we already have a good picture of their role and influence thanks to the Sigilography stemming from historical sources dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries

The ascension of Ioannis Chamaretos in the rank of a Despot one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire is of course already known to us It had never been clear however under what conditions this climbing of the hierarchy ladder was in fact realized

The finding of a lead seal mentioning Ioannis Chamaretos as the Despot of the Laconians introduces us with a new aspect concerning the history of the family and is quite revealing as to the taking over of Sparta by the Franks not to mention the fact that it is our only source of information pertaining to the place where Ioannis Chamaretos fled ndash his private homeland the castle of Maina in Laconia

The inscription on the lead seal divided into verses written in iambic trimeter is as follows Seal writing Despot Chamaretos Ioannis Despot of Maina of the Laconians

The laconic phrasing of the inscription that makes no reference as to the holder of the lead seal or to his past titles coupled with the fact that nothing whatsoever concerning the ties of the Chamaretos family with the area of Lacedaemon is mentioned leads us to chronologically place the lead seal in 121112 that is after the conquest of the city of Sparta by the Franks

His relationship with the area of Lacedaemon remains ambiguous probably deliberately so due to perhaps political reasons On the other hand his attitude shows a constant or uninterrupted relationship with Mani the land of the Laconians as was also the case with Leo Chamaretos the predecessor of Ioannis He too held the title of tyrant of the Laconians

In 1222 Ioannis Chamaretos fled to the court of Theodoros Comnenos A political conflict between himself and his relative G Daemonogiannis was partly to blame for his escape Even when retired to the castle of Mani Ioannis Chamaretos did not cease to be constantly involved in political skirmishes against the invaders of his land He allegedly managed to reach the region of Epirus after he was left to die at some isolated beach by his opponent and relative G Daemonogiannis To us this probability seems highly remote so we may just assume that his end reached us in a dramatized version

What it all boils down to finally is that Ioannis Chamaretos somehow managed to outlive the wrath of his rivals and to reach the court of Theodoros Comnenos thus sealing a whole chapter of the history not only of his family but also of Laconia

J Nesbitt - J Cotsonis The Image of the Doubting Thomas on an Unpublished Seal of the 6th Century St Thomas is only rarely depicted on Byzantine seals For example in volume 1 of Zacos and Vegleryrsquos Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) one encounters only a single representation of this apostle (no 1292)mdasha (highly corroded) profile bust To this limited range of citations may be added a seal preserved in a private collection If the object and its decoration were simply a question of another bust the significance of the specimen and its

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

their lists in chronological sequence can offer (under specific conditions) a new research tool not just on the origins and general history of the themes but also on more specific questions such as the (still debated) length of their tenure or the narrower dating of their bullae

With specific examples from the corpus of the strategoi of Hellas this paper discusses first of all problems of methodology in the selection evaluation and presentation of the relevant sigillographic material with special reference to the difficult issues of identification and dating It then investigates how all this information interrelates with evidence from other sources and it concludes by showing how this and similar studies can enhance our understanding of the Byzantine administration and prosopography as well as of the general history of Byzantium

Th Kourempanas The Seal of the First Known Katepano of Italy

The present paper deals with the seal of Michael katepano of Italy Even though this person is known from literary sources his seal is unpublished and belongs to a private collection The provenance the iconography of the seal and the imperial administration of the Byzantine part of the peninsula will be discussed during this presentation

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί το microολυβδόβουλλο του Μιχαήλ του πρώτου κατεπάνω Ιταλίας Αν και το πρόσωπο αυτό είναι γνωστό από φιλολογικές πηγές το microολυβδόβουλλο αυτού του αξιωmicroατούχου παραmicroένει αδηmicroοσίευτο Ο τόπος εύρεσης η εικονογραφία της σφραγίδας και η οργάνωση της βυζαντινής διοίκησης θα αποτελέσουν τα αντικείmicroενα microελέτης στην παρουσίαση αυτή I Leontiades Byzantine Seals with Family Names This paper looks at a number of lead seals of the Late Byzantine period The names on them are in some cases very well known and in others less familiar Reference is also made to other published and unpublished seals of these persons and members of the same families The information in Byzantine sources about these persons and families is examined and there is some discussion of related prosopographical and historical problems I Koltsida-Makri Lead Seals from Excavations in Greece

The historical value of lead seals with certain origin is unquestionably significant for the reason that these seals enable us to register sufficiently the correspondence distribution in Byzantine era Furthermore the geographical dispersion of the seals consists a precious knowledge for detecting the communication status of the central administration in Constantinople with the regional centres on the one hand and the contacts of the provinces between them on the other

Apart from the lead seals still hanging on the documents they sealed which are rare cases (such as the documents of the Holy Mountain) the seals with certain origin can be in general divided in two categories casual finds that have been located on specific sites and excavation finds The last ones surely have the advantage over the first exactly because they come to light in a context easily detectable due to correlations with the rest of the finds originating from the same excavation Consequently these seals offer much more concrete and ample evidence to the scholars

The subject was treated for the first time during the second International Symposium of Byzantine Sigillography that took place in Athens in the year 1988 (cf SBS 2 1990 proceedings of the Symposium) That was the first effort for a systematic study presentation and registration of lead seals with certain origin In the twenty years they have passed ever since this

important reservoir of knowledge has been enriched with new data which this paper aims to present for the hellenic territory Mutatis mudandis the number of lead seals that have been found out during excavation works in Greece in the last twenty years is not big However the new evidence especially located in Northen Greece (MaKedonia and Thrace) is considered important because it may sufficiently add new issues to the correspondence distribution during the byzantine period in the west provinces of the Imperium corresponding to the boundaries of the modern hellenic state

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης έχουν αναmicroφισβήτητα microεγάλη ιστορική αξία κυρίως διότι microας επιτρέπουν να καταγράψουmicroε microε ικανοποιητική ακρίβεια τη διακίνηση της αλληλογραφίας κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους Αυτή η πολύτιmicroη γνώση της γεωγραφικής διασποράς των σφραγίδων βοηθά να εντοπίσουmicroε ποιες περιοχές της περιφέρειας είχαν συχνή επικοινωνία microε την κεντρική διοίκηση στην πρωτεύουσα αλλά και ποια περιφερειακά διοικητικά κέντρα είχαν συχνότερες επαφές microεταξύ τους

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης διακρίνονται σε δύο κατηγορίες η πρώτη αφορά στα τυχαία ευρήmicroατα τα οποία έχουν εντοπισθεί σε συγκεκριmicroένη γεωγραφική θέση και η δεύτερη στα ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα τα οποία ασφαλώς πλεονεκτούν σε σχέση microε αυτά της πρώτης κατηγορίας επειδή ακριβώς αποκαλύπτονται σε περιβάλλον που microπορεί να διαγνωστεί πολύ ευκολότερα λόγω συσχετισmicroών και microε τα λοιπά ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα και κατά συνέπεια οι πληροφορίες που προσφέρουν microπορούν να καταστούν σαφώς πληρέστερες

Το δεύτερο Διεθνές Συmicroπόσιο Βυζαντινής Σφραγιδογραφίας που πραγmicroατοποιήθηκε στο Νοmicroισmicroατικό Μουσείο Αθηνών το έτος 1988 [πρβλ SBS 2(1990) ο τόmicroος αυτός αποτελεί έκδοση των πρακτικών του Συνεδρίου] είχε ως θέmicroα τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης και τη σηmicroασία τους Τότε τέθηκε για πρώτη φορά το ζήτηmicroα στην πραγmicroατική του διάσταση και έγινε microια πρώτη προσπάθεια συστηmicroατικής καταγραφής και παρουσίασης των microολυβδοβούλλων microε ακριβή προέλευση Στα είκοσι χρόνια που microεσολάβησαν η σπουδαία αυτή δεξαmicroενή γνώσης εmicroπλουτίστηκε microε νέα δεδοmicroένα τα οποία η παρούσα ανακοίνωση επιδιώκει να καλύψει για τον ελληνικό χώρο Τηρουmicroένων βεβαίως των αναλογιών ο αριθmicroός των microολυβδοβούλλων που έχουν έλθει στο φως στη διάρκεια ανασκαφών κατά την τελευταία εικοσαετία στην Ελλάδα δεν είναι microεγάλος ωστόσο οι νέες microαρτυρίες που εντοπίζονται κυρίως στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα στην περιοχή της Μακεδονίας και Θράκης θεωρούνται σηmicroαντικές διότι βοηθούν να συmicroπληρωθεί σε ικανοποιητικό βαθmicroό η εικόνα της διακίνησης της αλληλογραφίας στα βυζαντινά χρόνια στις microικρές δυτικές επαρχίες της Αυτοκρατορίας που αντιστοιχούν στα όρια της σύγχρονης ελληνικής επικράτειας

K Mantzana - CTsodoulos Unedited Patriarchal Sigillia of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos at Meteora

In the present statement they will be presented three Patriarchal sigillia which are kept in the Sacristy of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos one of the most important monasteries of Meteora In sigillia is provided information concerning the privileges of the Monastery They inform us about the administrative autonomy and the safeguarding of its land and the holy relics Sigillia bring lead seals which in the obverse depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus while the reverse bears the embossed name and title of each Ecumenical Patriarch (Raphael II (1605) Paisios II (1743) and Gregory VI (1838)) as well it is mentioned the year of publication of sigillia

Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιασθούν τρία Πατριαρχικά σιγίλλια τα οποία φυλάσσονται στο Σκευοφυλάκιο της Ιεράς Μονής Αγίου Στεφάνου microιας εκ των σπουδαιοτέρων Μονών των Μετεώρων Στα σιγίλλια αυτά παρέχονται στοιχεία που αφορούν στα προνόmicroια της

Ιεράς Μονής Μας πληροφορούν για τη διοικητική αυτονοmicroία και τη διασφάλιση των κτηmicroάτων και των ιερών λειψάνων της Φέρουν microολυβδόβουλα στα οποία στον εmicroπροσθότυπο απεικονίζεται η Παναγία Βρεφοκρατούσα ενώ ο οπισθότυπος φέρει έκτυπο το όνοmicroα και τον τίτλο του εκάστοτε Οικουmicroενικού Πατριάρχη (Ραφαήλ Βrsquo(1605) Παΐσιος Βrsquo (1743) και Γρηγόριος Στrsquo (1838)) καθώς επίσης αναφέρεται και το έτος εκδόσεως του σιγιλλίου

A Mazarakes Το microολυβδόβουλο του Ιωάννη Χαmicroαρέτου

The presence of the Chamaretos family in the area of Lacedaemon is an ever challenging historical realm always prompting the researcher to further investigation although we already have a good picture of their role and influence thanks to the Sigilography stemming from historical sources dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries

The ascension of Ioannis Chamaretos in the rank of a Despot one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire is of course already known to us It had never been clear however under what conditions this climbing of the hierarchy ladder was in fact realized

The finding of a lead seal mentioning Ioannis Chamaretos as the Despot of the Laconians introduces us with a new aspect concerning the history of the family and is quite revealing as to the taking over of Sparta by the Franks not to mention the fact that it is our only source of information pertaining to the place where Ioannis Chamaretos fled ndash his private homeland the castle of Maina in Laconia

The inscription on the lead seal divided into verses written in iambic trimeter is as follows Seal writing Despot Chamaretos Ioannis Despot of Maina of the Laconians

The laconic phrasing of the inscription that makes no reference as to the holder of the lead seal or to his past titles coupled with the fact that nothing whatsoever concerning the ties of the Chamaretos family with the area of Lacedaemon is mentioned leads us to chronologically place the lead seal in 121112 that is after the conquest of the city of Sparta by the Franks

His relationship with the area of Lacedaemon remains ambiguous probably deliberately so due to perhaps political reasons On the other hand his attitude shows a constant or uninterrupted relationship with Mani the land of the Laconians as was also the case with Leo Chamaretos the predecessor of Ioannis He too held the title of tyrant of the Laconians

In 1222 Ioannis Chamaretos fled to the court of Theodoros Comnenos A political conflict between himself and his relative G Daemonogiannis was partly to blame for his escape Even when retired to the castle of Mani Ioannis Chamaretos did not cease to be constantly involved in political skirmishes against the invaders of his land He allegedly managed to reach the region of Epirus after he was left to die at some isolated beach by his opponent and relative G Daemonogiannis To us this probability seems highly remote so we may just assume that his end reached us in a dramatized version

What it all boils down to finally is that Ioannis Chamaretos somehow managed to outlive the wrath of his rivals and to reach the court of Theodoros Comnenos thus sealing a whole chapter of the history not only of his family but also of Laconia

J Nesbitt - J Cotsonis The Image of the Doubting Thomas on an Unpublished Seal of the 6th Century St Thomas is only rarely depicted on Byzantine seals For example in volume 1 of Zacos and Vegleryrsquos Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) one encounters only a single representation of this apostle (no 1292)mdasha (highly corroded) profile bust To this limited range of citations may be added a seal preserved in a private collection If the object and its decoration were simply a question of another bust the significance of the specimen and its

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

important reservoir of knowledge has been enriched with new data which this paper aims to present for the hellenic territory Mutatis mudandis the number of lead seals that have been found out during excavation works in Greece in the last twenty years is not big However the new evidence especially located in Northen Greece (MaKedonia and Thrace) is considered important because it may sufficiently add new issues to the correspondence distribution during the byzantine period in the west provinces of the Imperium corresponding to the boundaries of the modern hellenic state

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης έχουν αναmicroφισβήτητα microεγάλη ιστορική αξία κυρίως διότι microας επιτρέπουν να καταγράψουmicroε microε ικανοποιητική ακρίβεια τη διακίνηση της αλληλογραφίας κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους Αυτή η πολύτιmicroη γνώση της γεωγραφικής διασποράς των σφραγίδων βοηθά να εντοπίσουmicroε ποιες περιοχές της περιφέρειας είχαν συχνή επικοινωνία microε την κεντρική διοίκηση στην πρωτεύουσα αλλά και ποια περιφερειακά διοικητικά κέντρα είχαν συχνότερες επαφές microεταξύ τους

Τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης διακρίνονται σε δύο κατηγορίες η πρώτη αφορά στα τυχαία ευρήmicroατα τα οποία έχουν εντοπισθεί σε συγκεκριmicroένη γεωγραφική θέση και η δεύτερη στα ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα τα οποία ασφαλώς πλεονεκτούν σε σχέση microε αυτά της πρώτης κατηγορίας επειδή ακριβώς αποκαλύπτονται σε περιβάλλον που microπορεί να διαγνωστεί πολύ ευκολότερα λόγω συσχετισmicroών και microε τα λοιπά ανασκαφικά ευρήmicroατα και κατά συνέπεια οι πληροφορίες που προσφέρουν microπορούν να καταστούν σαφώς πληρέστερες

Το δεύτερο Διεθνές Συmicroπόσιο Βυζαντινής Σφραγιδογραφίας που πραγmicroατοποιήθηκε στο Νοmicroισmicroατικό Μουσείο Αθηνών το έτος 1988 [πρβλ SBS 2(1990) ο τόmicroος αυτός αποτελεί έκδοση των πρακτικών του Συνεδρίου] είχε ως θέmicroα τα microολυβδόβουλλα γνωστής προέλευσης και τη σηmicroασία τους Τότε τέθηκε για πρώτη φορά το ζήτηmicroα στην πραγmicroατική του διάσταση και έγινε microια πρώτη προσπάθεια συστηmicroατικής καταγραφής και παρουσίασης των microολυβδοβούλλων microε ακριβή προέλευση Στα είκοσι χρόνια που microεσολάβησαν η σπουδαία αυτή δεξαmicroενή γνώσης εmicroπλουτίστηκε microε νέα δεδοmicroένα τα οποία η παρούσα ανακοίνωση επιδιώκει να καλύψει για τον ελληνικό χώρο Τηρουmicroένων βεβαίως των αναλογιών ο αριθmicroός των microολυβδοβούλλων που έχουν έλθει στο φως στη διάρκεια ανασκαφών κατά την τελευταία εικοσαετία στην Ελλάδα δεν είναι microεγάλος ωστόσο οι νέες microαρτυρίες που εντοπίζονται κυρίως στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα στην περιοχή της Μακεδονίας και Θράκης θεωρούνται σηmicroαντικές διότι βοηθούν να συmicroπληρωθεί σε ικανοποιητικό βαθmicroό η εικόνα της διακίνησης της αλληλογραφίας στα βυζαντινά χρόνια στις microικρές δυτικές επαρχίες της Αυτοκρατορίας που αντιστοιχούν στα όρια της σύγχρονης ελληνικής επικράτειας

K Mantzana - CTsodoulos Unedited Patriarchal Sigillia of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos at Meteora

In the present statement they will be presented three Patriarchal sigillia which are kept in the Sacristy of the Holy Monastery of St Stephanos one of the most important monasteries of Meteora In sigillia is provided information concerning the privileges of the Monastery They inform us about the administrative autonomy and the safeguarding of its land and the holy relics Sigillia bring lead seals which in the obverse depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus while the reverse bears the embossed name and title of each Ecumenical Patriarch (Raphael II (1605) Paisios II (1743) and Gregory VI (1838)) as well it is mentioned the year of publication of sigillia

Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιασθούν τρία Πατριαρχικά σιγίλλια τα οποία φυλάσσονται στο Σκευοφυλάκιο της Ιεράς Μονής Αγίου Στεφάνου microιας εκ των σπουδαιοτέρων Μονών των Μετεώρων Στα σιγίλλια αυτά παρέχονται στοιχεία που αφορούν στα προνόmicroια της

Ιεράς Μονής Μας πληροφορούν για τη διοικητική αυτονοmicroία και τη διασφάλιση των κτηmicroάτων και των ιερών λειψάνων της Φέρουν microολυβδόβουλα στα οποία στον εmicroπροσθότυπο απεικονίζεται η Παναγία Βρεφοκρατούσα ενώ ο οπισθότυπος φέρει έκτυπο το όνοmicroα και τον τίτλο του εκάστοτε Οικουmicroενικού Πατριάρχη (Ραφαήλ Βrsquo(1605) Παΐσιος Βrsquo (1743) και Γρηγόριος Στrsquo (1838)) καθώς επίσης αναφέρεται και το έτος εκδόσεως του σιγιλλίου

A Mazarakes Το microολυβδόβουλο του Ιωάννη Χαmicroαρέτου

The presence of the Chamaretos family in the area of Lacedaemon is an ever challenging historical realm always prompting the researcher to further investigation although we already have a good picture of their role and influence thanks to the Sigilography stemming from historical sources dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries

The ascension of Ioannis Chamaretos in the rank of a Despot one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire is of course already known to us It had never been clear however under what conditions this climbing of the hierarchy ladder was in fact realized

The finding of a lead seal mentioning Ioannis Chamaretos as the Despot of the Laconians introduces us with a new aspect concerning the history of the family and is quite revealing as to the taking over of Sparta by the Franks not to mention the fact that it is our only source of information pertaining to the place where Ioannis Chamaretos fled ndash his private homeland the castle of Maina in Laconia

The inscription on the lead seal divided into verses written in iambic trimeter is as follows Seal writing Despot Chamaretos Ioannis Despot of Maina of the Laconians

The laconic phrasing of the inscription that makes no reference as to the holder of the lead seal or to his past titles coupled with the fact that nothing whatsoever concerning the ties of the Chamaretos family with the area of Lacedaemon is mentioned leads us to chronologically place the lead seal in 121112 that is after the conquest of the city of Sparta by the Franks

His relationship with the area of Lacedaemon remains ambiguous probably deliberately so due to perhaps political reasons On the other hand his attitude shows a constant or uninterrupted relationship with Mani the land of the Laconians as was also the case with Leo Chamaretos the predecessor of Ioannis He too held the title of tyrant of the Laconians

In 1222 Ioannis Chamaretos fled to the court of Theodoros Comnenos A political conflict between himself and his relative G Daemonogiannis was partly to blame for his escape Even when retired to the castle of Mani Ioannis Chamaretos did not cease to be constantly involved in political skirmishes against the invaders of his land He allegedly managed to reach the region of Epirus after he was left to die at some isolated beach by his opponent and relative G Daemonogiannis To us this probability seems highly remote so we may just assume that his end reached us in a dramatized version

What it all boils down to finally is that Ioannis Chamaretos somehow managed to outlive the wrath of his rivals and to reach the court of Theodoros Comnenos thus sealing a whole chapter of the history not only of his family but also of Laconia

J Nesbitt - J Cotsonis The Image of the Doubting Thomas on an Unpublished Seal of the 6th Century St Thomas is only rarely depicted on Byzantine seals For example in volume 1 of Zacos and Vegleryrsquos Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) one encounters only a single representation of this apostle (no 1292)mdasha (highly corroded) profile bust To this limited range of citations may be added a seal preserved in a private collection If the object and its decoration were simply a question of another bust the significance of the specimen and its

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

Ιεράς Μονής Μας πληροφορούν για τη διοικητική αυτονοmicroία και τη διασφάλιση των κτηmicroάτων και των ιερών λειψάνων της Φέρουν microολυβδόβουλα στα οποία στον εmicroπροσθότυπο απεικονίζεται η Παναγία Βρεφοκρατούσα ενώ ο οπισθότυπος φέρει έκτυπο το όνοmicroα και τον τίτλο του εκάστοτε Οικουmicroενικού Πατριάρχη (Ραφαήλ Βrsquo(1605) Παΐσιος Βrsquo (1743) και Γρηγόριος Στrsquo (1838)) καθώς επίσης αναφέρεται και το έτος εκδόσεως του σιγιλλίου

A Mazarakes Το microολυβδόβουλο του Ιωάννη Χαmicroαρέτου

The presence of the Chamaretos family in the area of Lacedaemon is an ever challenging historical realm always prompting the researcher to further investigation although we already have a good picture of their role and influence thanks to the Sigilography stemming from historical sources dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries

The ascension of Ioannis Chamaretos in the rank of a Despot one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire is of course already known to us It had never been clear however under what conditions this climbing of the hierarchy ladder was in fact realized

The finding of a lead seal mentioning Ioannis Chamaretos as the Despot of the Laconians introduces us with a new aspect concerning the history of the family and is quite revealing as to the taking over of Sparta by the Franks not to mention the fact that it is our only source of information pertaining to the place where Ioannis Chamaretos fled ndash his private homeland the castle of Maina in Laconia

The inscription on the lead seal divided into verses written in iambic trimeter is as follows Seal writing Despot Chamaretos Ioannis Despot of Maina of the Laconians

The laconic phrasing of the inscription that makes no reference as to the holder of the lead seal or to his past titles coupled with the fact that nothing whatsoever concerning the ties of the Chamaretos family with the area of Lacedaemon is mentioned leads us to chronologically place the lead seal in 121112 that is after the conquest of the city of Sparta by the Franks

His relationship with the area of Lacedaemon remains ambiguous probably deliberately so due to perhaps political reasons On the other hand his attitude shows a constant or uninterrupted relationship with Mani the land of the Laconians as was also the case with Leo Chamaretos the predecessor of Ioannis He too held the title of tyrant of the Laconians

In 1222 Ioannis Chamaretos fled to the court of Theodoros Comnenos A political conflict between himself and his relative G Daemonogiannis was partly to blame for his escape Even when retired to the castle of Mani Ioannis Chamaretos did not cease to be constantly involved in political skirmishes against the invaders of his land He allegedly managed to reach the region of Epirus after he was left to die at some isolated beach by his opponent and relative G Daemonogiannis To us this probability seems highly remote so we may just assume that his end reached us in a dramatized version

What it all boils down to finally is that Ioannis Chamaretos somehow managed to outlive the wrath of his rivals and to reach the court of Theodoros Comnenos thus sealing a whole chapter of the history not only of his family but also of Laconia

J Nesbitt - J Cotsonis The Image of the Doubting Thomas on an Unpublished Seal of the 6th Century St Thomas is only rarely depicted on Byzantine seals For example in volume 1 of Zacos and Vegleryrsquos Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel 1972) one encounters only a single representation of this apostle (no 1292)mdasha (highly corroded) profile bust To this limited range of citations may be added a seal preserved in a private collection If the object and its decoration were simply a question of another bust the significance of the specimen and its

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

ornament would be limited But in this case we are dealing with a New Testament scene the climactic moment of the meeting of the risen Christ and the doubting Thomas St Thomas is shown at left and turned His knees and head are bent while with his right hand he probes the wound in Christrsquos right side A nimbate Christ stands facing his right arm held above the figure who requires tactile proof of his resurrection There are several clues to the objectrsquos date One is a christogram above the head of St Thomas Ornament on the sealrsquos reverse is divided into two zones In the upper field is a bust of the Virgin below her appears a cruciform monogram Christogram and cruciform mongram point to the reign of Justinian after 540

One goal of this paper is to make this specimen known Another is to explore its imagery in terms of comparanda specifically ampullae and wall decoration

B Papadopoulou A Byzantine Lead Seal found in Nikopolis (Epirus)

In this paper will be presented an unpublished byzantine lead seal found during excavations in the Basilica Alkisonos at Nikopolis

Στην ανακοίνωση θα παρουσιαστεί ένα microολυβδόβουλλο το οποίο βρέθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια ανασκαφικών εργασιών στη Βασιλική Αλκίσωνος στη Νικόπολη

P Papadopoulou Lead Seals from Byzantine Butrint (Albania) Recent excavations undertaken in different parts of the archaeological site of Butrint Byzantine Bouthrotos in Southern Albania shed new light on our understanding of this region in the Byzantine period

Of particular interest is a group of five Byzantine lead seals They all date to the late 9thndash10th centuries and record five imperial officials among which the basilikos protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrachion The seals were recovered from a Middle Byzantine household located in the Vrina Plain to the south of the acropolis The material culture ndash ceramics imported from southern Italy and ornamental fittings and jewelry from the south-western Balkans ndash point to the householdrsquos connections with the neighboring regions while the seals as well as a group of forty-eight copper folles and a silver miliaresion coming from the same layers testify to the administrative importance of the Vrina plain site during the 9th and 10th centuries

Lead seals from the Albanian territory or mentioning officials from this region are extremely rare This fact adds special importance to the group of seals discussed in this paper more so since they came from controlled archaeological excavations

V Prigent Unpublished Seals of a Provate Collection from Sardinia A small collection of seals belonging to an ecclesiastic from Sardinia will be presented The origin of the seals is said to be the island itself but the profile of the general profile of the material seems to point toward a Turkish origin before reaching Italy as a group Several seals belongings to Comnenos-era aristocrats like John Comnenos the sebaste Eudokia Georges son of the Megas Domestikos or Niketas Tornikios can be identified The hypothesis of a turkish origin of the material stems from the presence of a group a geographical seals mainly ecclesiastivcal linked to western Asia Minor among which the seals of metropolitans of Ladokeia Sardis or Magnesia A more ancien specimen refers to the icon of the Theotokos of Socirczopolis

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

The collection also contains apart from a seal of Andronikos III a well conserved exemplary of the token coined in the names of emperors Romanus Lekapenos his son Christophoros and Constantin VII Porphyrogenitus probably on this occasion of the wedding of the daughter of Christophoros with the Bulgarian tsar Peter A Rhoby Epigrams Epigraphy and Sigillography

The ambition to attach inscriptions on objects has always been very popular Inscriptional words either describe the object or the image they are attached to or inform about the donor or the owner Although thousands of Byzantine objects are covered with inscriptions quite a lot of them have never been analyzed properly ndash with one exception The importance of legends on seals has already been recognized many decades ago The careful reading of legends on seals contributes to many other fields such as history prosopography etc A considerable number of these legends are given in verse shape Metrical inscriptions on seals are interesting insofar as the textrsquos purpose is not merely informative The text itself has already some specific value Beside seals many other Byzantine objects bear metrical inscriptions (epigrams) as well These epigrams which are of different length ndash ranging from a mere monostichon up to the dozens of verses ndash are inscribed on different objects of minor arts but also on portable icons church walls and other media Interestingly enough there is hardly any connection between metrical legends on seals and verses on other objects Only few examples of verses are known which are inscribed on both media However it is highly recommended and worth to compare these verses By analyzing them carefully we learn more about Byzantine poetry in general and different ways of representation in Byzantine society in particular

M Schaller Uumlberlegungen zur Herkunft des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen

Am 4 Januar 1905 veroumlffentlichte der Archivdirektor Georg Wolfram aus Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen in der Muumlnchner bdquoAllgemeinen Zeitungldquo einen Artikel worin er feststellte dass zwischen dem Monogramm in den Urkunden Karls des Groszligen und jenem des Patriarchen Narses von Armenien welches Letzterer in der Zeit von 640mdash661 gebrauchte signifikante Aumlhnlichkeiten bestuumlnden Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnis formulierte er die These der zufolge fuumlr die Genese des Monogramms Karls des Groszligen byzantinische Einfluumlsse nicht auszuschlieszligen waumlren Am 27 Februar 1905 bekraumlftigte Wolfram in einem weiteren Artikel der naumlmlichen Zeitung seine Ansichten zu diesem Thema

Gegen die von Wolfram vorgebrachten Argumente bezog der Historiker Johann Lechner in einem Beitrag der im bdquoNeuen Archiv fuumlr aumlltere deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (a O 30 [1905] 702ndash707) veroumlffentlicht wurde entschieden Stellung Lechner der an der Edition der Diplome der Karolinger welche damals unter der Federfuumlhrung des bekannten Mediaumlvisten Engelbert Muumlhlbacher durchgefuumlhrt wurde mitarbeitete schloss byzantinische Einfluumlsse auf das Karlsmonogramm aus und verwies auf bereits fruumlh im Westen auftretende Muumlnzen mit Kreuzmonogrammen nach deren Vorbild seiner Meinung nach das Karlsmonogramm entworfen worden waumlre Nach wie vor wird Lechners Aufsatz selbst in rezenten Beitraumlgen wie in jenen von Mark Mersiowsky (1996) oder Peter Ruumlck (1996) maszliggebend zitiert Fuumlr einzelne spezifische Merkmale im Karlsmonogramm welche Lechner in seiner kurzen Abhandlung zu deuten unterlieszlig die aber sehr wohl einen byzantinischen Hintergrund vermuten lassen suchten Mersiowsky und Ruumlck die diesen Mangel in der Argumentation Lechners bemerkten Erklaumlrungen zu geben Dabei verwiesen sie zur Herkunft alphabetischer Besonderheiten (wie des Buchstabens K) auf die Ethymologien Isidors von Sevilla Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel einen kritischen Blick auf Lechners Argumente und jene der fuumlhrenden Diplomatiker der westlichen Mediaumlvistik zu werfen Andererseits will er den bekannten Bestand an

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

Kreuzmonogrammen im Bereich der byzantinischen Sigillographie auf Exemplare signifikanter (aumluszligerlicher bzw rein bildlicher) Aumlhnlichkeit mit dem Monogramm Karls des Groszligen uumlberpruumlfen Sollten dabei Beispiele gefunden werden koumlnnen die deutlich vor den ersten Gebrauch des Karlsmonogramms (768) zu datieren sind duumlrfte ein byzantinischer Einfluss auf dieses Handzeichen nicht laumlnger ausgeschlossen werden

On January the 4th 1905 G Wolfram chief-archivist in the city of Metz in Elsaszlig-Lothringen published an article in a newspaper of Munich the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo He recognised some significant similiarities between the monograms of Charles the Great and the patriarch Narses of Armenia (used from this patriarch between 640 and 661 a d) Wolfram made the case the developement of Charlesrsquo monogram could have happened under influences of byzantine monograms and on 27th of February 1905 in the bdquoAllgemeine Zeitungldquo was printed a supplemental article of him But the Austrian historian J Lechner objected to the hypothesis of Wolfram Lechner who ndash under the leading of E Muumlhlbacher ndash was involved to the edition of the documents of the Karolingian emperors told the international scholarship of medieval history-research as answer against Wolframs opinion in a short article in the bdquoNeues Archiv fuumlr Aumlltere Deutsche Geschichtskundeldquo (Ibid t 30 [1905] 702ndash707) that he had never found any Byzantine influences in Karolingian documents Lechner refered to coins with monograms in form of crosses existing in the western part of Europe since the eastern-gothic empire under Theoderich the Great He proposed the solution to reduce the genesis of the monogram of Charles on these coins 90 years later the article of Lechner ist still cited in the recent studies of M Mersiowsky or P Ruumlck (1996) who dealed with the subject as well on the first position although Lechner could not explain some charakteristics in the monogram for example the letter bdquoKldquo His followers Mersiowsky and Ruumlck have thought about a connection to the bdquoEthymologiaeldquo of Isidor from Sevilla but the letter bdquoKldquo is very rarely used in the Ethymologiae This short study has the intention to reassess the arguments to compare the early Byzantine cross-monograms with those in the documents of Charles the Great and to analyse some similiarities

W Seibt Zukunftsperspektiven der byzantinischen Siegelkunde ndash Auf welchen Gebieten sind die bedeutendsten Wissenszuwaumlchse zu erwarten

Die byzantinische Siegelkunde hat sich als sehr wertvoll fuumlr das Studium der Historischen Geographie des Byzantinischen Reiches erwiesen Seitdem nun auch die diesbezuumlglichen Bestaumlnde in Dumbarton Oaks und Bulgarien sehr gut aufgearbeitet sind und viele weitere Studien vorliegen darf man mit Fug annehmen dass der Prozentsatz an neuen Entdeckungen eher gering sein wird auch wenn sicherlich noch so manche Uumlberraschungen zu erwarten sind sowohl bei mangelhaft vorpublizierten als auch bei noch unpubliziertem Material bzw bei Stuumlcken die infolge von Fragmentierung oder anderen Beschaumldigungen bisher nicht verlaumlsslich gedeutet werden konnten Die Fortschritte bei der genaueren Datierung erlauben es uns heute bereits fuumlr viele Dukate Themen usw eine chronologisch gegliederte Liste der Amtstraumlger zusammenzustellen die dann weitere Schluumlsse zur Verwaltungsgeschichte zulaumlsst Und bei selten oder bisher kaum belegten Termini werden erst Siegel mehr Klarheit bringen

Soweit der Fundort bekannt ist lassen sich daraus bisweilen Indizien ndash aber natuumlrlich zumeist keine Beweise ndash fuumlr den Amtsbereich des betreffenden Beamten oder Wuumlrdentraumlgers ableiten auch wenn dieser nicht genannt ist Fortschritte wurden schon erzielt weitere sind zu erhoffen Hier liegt auch der besondere Wert geschlossener Fundkomplexe wie etwa bei Zypern Karthago die Krim usw selbst wenn viele Stuumlcke fuumlr sich allein wenig aussagekraumlftig waumlren

Was die Provinzialverwaltung allgemein betrifft lassen sich sicher noch bessere Erkenntnisse herausarbeiten beispielsweise beim Problemkreis der chronologischen Einordnung der Entmachtung der Praumltorianerpraumlfektur und der allmaumlhlichen Umwandlung des damit

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

verbundenen Systems Dass Siegel bei der Klaumlrung dieser Fragen eine wichtige Rolle spielen wurde erkannt die sich daraus ergebenden Moumlglichkeiten aber noch nicht voll genuumltzt

Auch fuumlr die Zentralverwaltung wird so Manches aus Siegeln besser gelernt und verstanden werden koumlnnen Nicht zuletzt bei der Interpretation von Siegeln bestimmter Logothesien die weitab von byzantinischem Territorium gefunden wurden sollte man vorsichtiger sein als bisher oumlfters geschehen und nicht mit falschen Schlussfolgerungen Verwirrung stiften

Die meisten neuen Erkenntnisse sind sicherlich auf dem Gebiet der Prosopographie insbesondere der byzantinischen Familiennamen (in einem sehr weiten Sinn des Wortes) zu erwarten nicht nur was die Korrekturen aumllterer Publikationen betrifft wie wir kuumlrzlich zeigen konnten sondern auch bei der Auswertung viel bisher unedierten Materials Deshalb ist es doppelt erfreulich dass die naumlchsten Siegel-Baumlnde die ab jetzt in Dumbarton Oaks erarbeitet werden diesem Bereich gewidmet sein sollen Sowohl fuumlr bekannte Familien wird viel Neues zutage kommen was das Auf und Ab dieser Kreise besser erkennen laumlsst als auch fuumlr weniger bekannte bzw bisher uumlberhaupt nicht belegte Namen ndash falls sie richtig gelesen werden Es kursieren ja leider nicht wenige bdquoghoast namesldquo - und die sollten nicht vermehrt werden Soweit es sich um bdquofremdeldquo Namen handelt die Hinweise auf eine Abstammung aus dem Ausland liefern sind auch weitere Informationen darin enthalten etwa was die Rolle bestimmter Ethnien in byzantinischen Kommandopositionen betrifft Hoffentlich gelingt es die Frage der Identifizierung oder Trennung homonymer synchroner Siegler allmaumlhlich noch besser in den Griff zu bekommen

Die metrischen Legenden byzantinischer Bleisiegel werden in absehbarer Zeit in einem neuen Corpus zugaumlnglich sein das die bisherige Zusammenstellung von Pegravere Laurent nicht nur der Zahl nach weit uumlbertrifft Neben vielen bdquoAllerweltsversenldquo sind auch anspruchsvolle dabei die nicht zuletzt das Interesse der Philologen verdienen Bei der Interpretation von umschreibenden termini technici ist eine gewisse Vorsicht geboten

Was bildliche Darstellungen auf Siegeln betrifft gibt es schon viele Detailstudien aber auch hier kann noch viel mehr erreicht werden Besonders interessant erscheinen selten belegte Heilige auch wenn man bei der Interpretation vor vorschnellen Schluumlssen auf der Hut sein muss Auch bei haumlufig belegten Heiligen finden sich gelegentlich neue Darstellungstypen Die schwierigeFrage ob man bei bestimmten Familien (oder auch politischen Faktionen) bestimmte Praumlferenzen fuumlr einen ganz konkreten Heiligen bzw sogar eine bestimmte Ikone postulieren darf bedarf noch weiterer Untersuchungen Es ist das Verdienst von J-Cl Cheynet hier wichtige Ansaumltze geliefert zu haben Je mehr Material zur Verfuumlgung steht umso eher lassen sich serioumlse Schluumlsse auf die Froumlmmigkeitsgeschichte ableiten

Monogramme sind ein schwieriges Kapitel in vielen Faumlllen wird bestenfalls ein Loumlsungsvorschlag geboten werden koumlnnen aber oumlfters sind auch aus monogrammatisch verschluumlsselten Siegeln weiterfuumlhrende Schluumlsse moumlglich die bisweilen uumlberraschen

Die Archaumlologen sind zumeist uumlber Muumlnzfunde sehr erfreut weil sie bei der Datierung bestimmter Ausgrabungs-Schichten eine wertvolle Hilfestellung leisten koumlnnen Erfreulicherweise entdecken die Kollegen von der Archaumlologie allmaumlhlich auch den Wert der Siegel die man fruumlher allzu oft achtlos bdquoentsorgtldquo bei relativ genauer Datierung und guter Interpretation koumlnnten diese jedoch bisweilen erstaunliche Ergebnisse zeitigen innerhalb und auszligerhalb der jeweiligen Grenzen des Byzantinischen Reiches Deshalb finden wir es doppelt verdienstvoll dass beim Symposion in Ioannina diesem Aspekt ein gebuumlhrender Platz eingeraumlumt wird

Je verlaumlsslicher die Ergebnisse der sigillographischen Forschung werden umso leichter wird es den Byzantinisten allgemein fallen die Scheu vor diesem Material zu uumlberwinden und auch den hier reichlich vorhandenen Quellenbestand voll in die Forschung zu integrieren

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

Ch StavrakosThe Sigillographical Profile of Epirus In this paper will be presented some remarks concerning the byzantine seals directly or indirectly related with Epirus (Thema of Nikopolis and the Despotate) This research is based on a project which publish and re-publish byzantine seals from Epirus

Η ανακοίνωση βασίζεται στα πρώτα αποτελέσmicroατα του σχεδίου συγκέντρωσης των βυζαντινών σφραγίδων οι οποίες προέρχονται από αξιωmicroατούχους της Ηπείρου (θέmicroα Νικοπόλεως και Δεσποτάτο) ή βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές στην περιοχή της σηmicroερινής Ηπείρου Το σφραγιστικό αυτό υλικό παρουσιάζει microια νέα όψη της από την βυζαντινή ιστοριογραφία παραmicroεληmicroένης περιοχής

V Stepanenko The Apostles Sts Peter and Paul in Byzantine Sigillography

The twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are relatively rare in byzantine art of VI-XII сс The evidence of small popularity of these images in the Empire is their almost full absence in the Byzantine sigillography Only about ten from thousands seals bear the twin images of the apostles on its obverses The possible explanation is found in the fact that the last stage of their activities was connected mainly with Rome where they suffered the martyrdom and where their relics soon became the objects of worship and where their images very early appeared on the Popersquos seals Byzantine church seemed not to have possessed their relics Small popularity of their cults in Byzantium can be explained by the opposition of New and Old Rome

Before iconoclasm twin images of the apostles are known on the seals of unknown metropolitan of Ankyra VII-VIII cc(DO4 24 and metropolitan of Iconionrsquos Longinos VII-VIII cc (DO3 911) in X-XII cc the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios (DO1 535) are known of the bishop of Corfu Kosmas (Constantopoulos n113) of the anonymous metropolitans of Corfu John and Basil (DO2 51 5354) of the metropolitans of Adrianoupolis Nicephoros (DO14411) and Eustaphios (Iordanov1 38) Last seals with the images of a)Theotokos Episkepsis on the obv and the Sts Peter and Paul on the rev b) of Isidoros on the obv and the apostles on the rev

The images of Sts Peter and Paul are known in the art of the Byzantine cultural circle states as for example the icon of the middle of the XI c in Novgorod (Russia)

Only on the obv of the metropolitan of Tarsos Theophilosrsquo seal Sts apostles are represented in the exceptional iconography of Apostles greeting each other (DO5 56) Itrsquos possible that the prototype of this iconography was made in the Western Europe In favour of this supposition speaks the existence of this scene on the ivory panel V-VI cc from Pompeii region (HKessler)

The source-book of this scene is considered to be the Greek apocrypha y450-550 where the meeting of Sts apostles in Rome is mentioned but the iconographic tradition was created in Italy (E Kutzinger) Later in the Western Europe this scene became the part of the illustrations to the Vitae of Sts Peter and Paul (for example the wall-painting of the basilica of St Paulrsquos Outside the Walls in Rome and the mosaics of the Cathedral in Montreal)

In Byzantium the image of two apostles appeared on the obv of the seals of the bishop of Herakleia Demetrios at the end of the X c and later on the obv of the seals of the metropolitans of Corfu (XI-XIIIcc) and Adrianoupolis (XI-XII) and in the wall-painting of Vatopedi (the end of the XII c) and on the miniature on the ms7 in the Athens National library (XII c) In sigillography this scene is known only on the as of the seal of the metropolitan of Tarsos

During of the Latin occupation of Constantinople Sts Peter and Paul appeared on the obv of the local coins (Hendy pl2710-11- type T)

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

In the second part of the XIII-XIV cc the images of the Sts apostles in height appeared in the Byzantine art again ( the icons in the monastery of St Catherine on the mount Sinai (XIV c) in the Vatopedi (XIV c) in Moscow Kremlin (XIV c) the miniature of the manuscript from Great Lavra in Moscow (SHM muz3648) Presumably the reason was the pro-Western policy of Michael VIII Palaiologos and his contacts with Rome There is an epigram of Manuel Phillos laquoOn the icon of Sts Peter and Paul greeting each otherrdquo and the description of a similar icon by John Hortasmenos But in Byzantine sigillography of that eacutepoque twin images of Sts Peter and Paul are nowhere in evidence And only in the post-byzantine period the iconography enjoys great popularity in the painting of the Venetian Candia

The rarity of the twin images of Sts Peter and Paul in the Byzantine sigillography illustrates the Hermitage collection The busts of the Sts Apostles is on the obv of the seal M-4393 of the XI c belong to the Eustaphios Unfortunately the geographic origin is debatable

On the obv of the seal M-6835 ( the end of X c) is the bust of Theotokos Orans and on the rev - Sts apostles greeting each other The quantity of the seals with the images of Sts Peter and Paul may grow in the future but this increase will not be decisive

E Stepanova Seals of Thessalonica from the Hermitage Museum (Research conducted with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant 08-01-00318a)

At the Hermitage collection about 70 seals of Thessalonica are kept They occupy almost all medieval period of the history of this town that is the 7th-13th centuries Some of them are well-known to the specialists They were published by N Lihachev B Panchenko V Shandrovskaja Other ones have parallels in different collections of seals Among them are the seals of Meligalas imperial kommerkiarios and abydikos of Pardas vardarios seal of two persons Leo imperial spatharios and Christophoros imperial strator and kommerkiarios of Thessalonica of Staurakios kommerkiarios of John Spartinos prokaphimenos (XIII c) of Constantine Kamateros imperial notarios and judge of Boleron Strymon and Thessalonica (XI c) of John archbishop (early X c) of Theodulos archbishop (late XI c)of Theodotos archbishop (VIII c) etc In my report I shall pay special attention to the seals which are not published yet The most interesting are the seals of Pastilas proedros and dux of Thessalonica and Servia (XI c) of Leo komes tes kortes (VIII c) of Theophanos epektes (IXX c) of Joseph imperial spatharokandidatos and kommerkiarios (X c) of Romanos strategos (X c) of Leo archbishop (VII c) of Theodoros eparchos (VIII c) a large serie of seals of Persentios eparchos (VIII c)

I Varalis Επανεξέταση των microολυβδοβούλλων της Θεσσαλίας (Lead Seals from Thessaly Reconsidered)

The lead seals of attested Thessalian provenance have been published over a century ago by Nikolaos Giannopoulos in a series of articles in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift and the Epeteris tes Hetereias Byzantinon Spoudon A part of them has been transferred to the National Numismatic Museum Athens and the rest have been kept in Giannopoulosrsquo private collection the whereabouts of which is at the moment quite difficult to monitor The seals are said to be surface findings from surveys done by Giannopoulos himself over the southern part of medieval Halmyros located atop the Tsingeli hill to the north-east of the modern town The corpus of these lead seals is the only known from Middle Byzantine Thessaly at the eve of the fourth crusade and thus it constitutes an interesting group in itself The study of the iconography of the seals and a revision of their texts will help to deepen our knowledge of the prosopographical index of the ecclesiastical and secular officials who were acting in this remote region of the Empire The information retrieved by the study of these seals in the light of data offered by

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

archaeological excavations and written sources will contribute to the assessment of the various components of the medieval city and its monumental topography as well

Α-Κ Wassiliou-Seibt Πρώιmicroα βυζαντινά microολυβδόβουλλα microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές

Μία ιδιαίτερη οmicroάδα βυζαντινών σφραγίδων αποτελούν αυτές που φέρουν έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές Πρόκειται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά για δωδεκασύλλαβους και σπανίως για δεκαπεντασύλλαβους Λαmicroβάνοντας υπόψιν ότι οι επιγραφές των microολυβδοβούλλων είναι επιγράmicromicroατα και γνωρίζοντας ότι το ιαmicroβικό τρίmicroετρο του οποίου γέννηmicroα είναι ο δωδεκασύλλαβος αποτελεί το κατεξοχήν microέτρο των Ιαmicroβογράφων και των επιγραmicromicroάτων περιττεύει κάθε επιmicroέρους εξήγηση Σπανιότερα απαντώνται επιγράmicromicroατα σε εξάmicroετρο Οι απαρχές των βυζαντινών microολυβδοβούλλων microε έmicromicroετρες επιγραφές ανάγονται λίγο πριν τα microέσα του ενδεκάτου (11ου) αιώνα Ωστόσο υπάρχουν και microεmicroονωmicroένες περιπτώσεις πολύ αρχαιότερες απrsquo αυτό το ορόσηmicroο Πέρα από την ευρέως γνωστή σφραγίδα του Ανδρέα Κρήτης (αρχές 8ου αι) (Laurent Corpus V1 619) σώζονται κι άλλα παρόmicroοια παραδείγmicroατα Σε microερικά απ᾿ αυτά επιθυmicroώ να επιστήσω την προσοχή των ενδειαφεροmicroένων παρουσιάζοντας και σχολιάζοντάς τα Ενδεικτικά αναφέρω τα ακόλουθα παραδείγmicroατα 1) Λέων ἡγοῦmicroαι Χριστός ἔστω microου φύλαξ 2) Γεωργίω λάτρει σου ὦ Χριστέ σῶσον 3) Σταυρὸς σκέπη φῶς δόξα τῷ Θεοφάνει 4) Μήτηρ Θεοῦ φύλαττε τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην Ἐπιφανίῳ ἄρχοντι ∆ηmicroητριάδος (το δεύτερο τmicroήmicroα της επιγραφής δεν είναι έmicromicroετρο) 5) Κραταιὸν ὅπλον ἡ σφραγὶς Νικηφόρῳ 6) Σταυρέ σφραγίς microου καὶ φυλακὴ καὶ σκέπη 7) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ ∆ηmicroητρίῳ 8) Σφραγίς microὲν εἰmicroὶ Ραδηνοῦ δικασπόλου τοῦ τῆς σακέλλης προέδρου Κωνασταντίνου 9) Σταυρὸς σφραγίς microοι καὶ φύλαξ Νικολάῳ Z Zhekova Byzantine Seals from the Collection of Regional Historical Museum Shumen

The Shumen museum is an institution with a long history In the remote 1857 the first museum collection was held in the town of Shumen In 1902 the Shumen archaeological society was established which two years later grew into an Archaeological museum Thus one of the first museums in the country was created The rich historical background of this part of the country predetermined the archaeological orientation of the collected materials It is a fact that in the first inventory book the newly-entered materials were differentiated into two sections Miscellaneous and Numismatics Probably this division is not accidental since today the Shumen numismatic collection is the largest and richest in the country As a brilliant expert in coins Dr Vassil Haralanov was the person who documented the newly-entered numismatic monuments in the inventory books The description of the first sigillographic materials was made precisely by him Thus the two unique sigillographic monuments ndash the bronze dies of Tsar Peter I found in Pliska (1926) and of Tsar Micho Asen found in Kaleto locality near the village of Mogila Shumen region (1932) ndash documented by Dr Haralanov in 1932 can be considered as the first specimens of the sigillographic collection The monuments are described skillfully with applied illustrations of their imprints The next materials that entered the collection were the four Byzantine seals found in Pliska in the course of regular archaeological excavations in 1937

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively

Today the Shumen collection of seals took over the lead in the country The exact number of sigillographic materials making up the collection of seals of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen is almost 800 specimens Only ten of them were acquired during regular archaeological excavations The rest were purchased from private persons and collectors In the course of nearly twenty years several large collections were purchased originating from a specific geographical region

The greatest number of seals of medieval Bulgaria more than 84 specimens is accumulated in Shumen Only the Shumen collection contains four unique bronze dies for wax seals Three of them belonged to the Bulgarian Tsars Peter I Micho Asen John Alexander and the fourth is associated with the Catalan nobleman Bernard Sa Guardia In addition to the lead seals and bronze dies the collection also contains technological materials accompanying the process of striking and affixing the seal to the correspondence lead blanks on which the imprints of the boulloteria were struck and one bronze mould for casting The chronological frame of the Shumen collection includes the period from the Vth through the XIXth centuries The Byzantine seals are largest in number ndash 700 specimens followed by the Bulgarian a certain number of west European seals (the so called papal bullae) Ottoman and stamps from Late Antiquity The focus is on the period Xth-XIIth centuries the time of the highest concentration of sigillographic artifacts from the territory of modern Bulgaria ndash a fact that can be explained bearing in mind that Bulgaria was part of the Byzantine Empire at that juncture The Shumen collection of seals is distinguished for its variety ndash thematic chronological geographic Unlike others which are limited in time and space it is dynamic The most valuable seals can be seen in the strong room of the museum the Treasury room where they are displayed very attractively