Leu Numismatik AG
Web Auction 14 12-13 Dec 2020
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Eugenios, meizoteros, 7th century. Seal (Lead, 23 mm, 12.22 g). Pentagram. Rev. +ЄVΓЄ' / MIZ. Unpublished in the standard references, but cf. J. Nesbitt: Apotropaic devices on Byzantine lead seals and tokens, in C. Entwistle: Through a Glass Brightly, Oxford 2003, p. 109, fig. 13.7 and 13.8, and Jordanov, Corpus III 1286-1288. Very fine.
The pentagram or pentalpha appears well into the middle Byzantine period on a small number of seals: John Nesbitt published two seals from the 7th century in the Dumbarton Oaks collection and Jordanov published another four from the 2nd half of the 10th century. The pentagram appears on magical gems from the Roman period, but it seems more likely traceable to the Byzantine use of the pentagram on seals and to the philosophical traditions of Neoplatonism and the Pythagoreanism, in which it was regarded as a symbol of health.
The pentagram or pentalpha appears well into the middle Byzantine period on a small number of seals: John Nesbitt published two seals from the 7th century in the Dumbarton Oaks collection and Jordanov published another four from the 2nd half of the 10th century. The pentagram appears on magical gems from the Roman period, but it seems more likely traceable to the Byzantine use of the pentagram on seals and to the philosophical traditions of Neoplatonism and the Pythagoreanism, in which it was regarded as a symbol of health.