Bucephalus Numismatic
Black Auction 15 10-11 Feb 2023
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PB Byzantine seal of Azdras (?) patrikios (8th century, first half).
Obv: Cruciform monogram of four letters: Ἀζδρᾶ. Between two wreath borders, a circular inscription beginning at twelve o'clock: [Κ(ύριο)ς] φωτισμός μ[ου (καὶ) σοτήρ μου].
Rev: Cruciform monogram: πατρικίου. Between two wreath borders, a circular inscription beginning at twelve o'clock: [Κ(ύριο)ς ὑπερασπι]στὴς τ[ῆς ζωῆς μου].
Translation: (Seal of) Azdras, patrikios. The Lord is my light and my savior, the Lord is the defender of my life.
Joe Glynias, "Prayerful Iconoclasts: Psalm Seals and Elite Formation in the First Iconoclast Era (726–750)," DOP 71 (2017), 65-93, 82 (no. 1); Zacos-Veglery, no. 579a-b; cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 1168. Parallel seals in Koltsida-Makre, Βυζαντινά μολυβδόβουλλα, no. 173-74; Sode and Speck, Berlin II, no. 211; Konstantopoulos, no. 905. Zacos mentions three other specimens.
The seal contains a quotation from Psalm 26:1 that begins on the obverse and continues on the reverse. The resolution of the monogram is uncertain since it would present a name unique in this time.
Condition: Near Very Fine.
Weight: 18.04 g.
Diameter: 28.3 mm.
Obv: Cruciform monogram of four letters: Ἀζδρᾶ. Between two wreath borders, a circular inscription beginning at twelve o'clock: [Κ(ύριο)ς] φωτισμός μ[ου (καὶ) σοτήρ μου].
Rev: Cruciform monogram: πατρικίου. Between two wreath borders, a circular inscription beginning at twelve o'clock: [Κ(ύριο)ς ὑπερασπι]στὴς τ[ῆς ζωῆς μου].
Translation: (Seal of) Azdras, patrikios. The Lord is my light and my savior, the Lord is the defender of my life.
Joe Glynias, "Prayerful Iconoclasts: Psalm Seals and Elite Formation in the First Iconoclast Era (726–750)," DOP 71 (2017), 65-93, 82 (no. 1); Zacos-Veglery, no. 579a-b; cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 1168. Parallel seals in Koltsida-Makre, Βυζαντινά μολυβδόβουλλα, no. 173-74; Sode and Speck, Berlin II, no. 211; Konstantopoulos, no. 905. Zacos mentions three other specimens.
The seal contains a quotation from Psalm 26:1 that begins on the obverse and continues on the reverse. The resolution of the monogram is uncertain since it would present a name unique in this time.
Condition: Near Very Fine.
Weight: 18.04 g.
Diameter: 28.3 mm.