The Byzantine Lead Seals at the Pera Museum

Year 2023, Volume: 26, 197 - 216, 12.11.2023

Nilgun Elam Christos Malatras Yavuz Selim Güler

https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.1299257

Abstract

The collection of lead seals of the Pera Museum consists of 17 unpublished pieces, except for three lead seals (nos.1, 8, and 10) which are dated from the second half of the 7th century to the 13th century. Ten of the seventeen Byzantine lead seals of the Pera Museum collection mention the dignities and the offices of their owners. These offices range from the lower rank of a simple notary (no. 5) up to the highest office of the emperor himself (no. 9). There is only one seal related to the ecclesiastical administration, issued by a bishop (no. 2). Noteworthy are the seals of Georgios (no. 6), who has the uniquely attested office of an imperial apothekarios, as well as the 11th-century seal of Pharasmanes Apokapes, member of a notable Byzantine family of Armenian origin, by whom no other seals have been published so far. Another group of seals consists of the specimens (nos. 11-14 and possibly also no. 17) where only the name or the surname of their owner is mentioned. All these pieces are dated to the period between the second half of the 11th century and the 13th century. In the collection, there are two more iconographic seals (nos. 15-16) depicting on both sides holy figures without any inscription that mentions their owner, and finally, an unidentified seal (no. 17) (dated to the end of the 11th century).

Keywords

Byzantine Lead Seals, Pera Museum, Byzantine Sigillography, Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, Konstantinos IX Monomachos, Pharasmanes Apokapes, Leon Mosele, megas kourator of the domains of the empress

Pera Müzesi’ndeki Bizans Kurşun Mühürleri

Abstract

Pera Müzesi kurşun mühür koleksiyonu, 7. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından 13. yüzyıla kadar tarihlenen üç kurşun mühür (no.1, 8 ve 10) dışında, yayınlanmamış 17 parçadan oluşmaktadır. Pera Müzesi koleksiyonundaki 17 Bizans kurşun mühründen 10’unda sahiplerinin rütbe ve makamlarından bahsedilmektedir. Bu makamlar basit bir notarios’luktan (no. 5) en yüksek makam olan imparatorluk makamına (no. 9) kadar uzanmaktadır. Kilise yönetimiyle ilgili sadece bir mühür vardır, o da bir piskopos tarafından bastırılmıştır (no. 2(. İmparatorluk apothekarios’u gibi benzeri bulunmayan (unique) makama sahip olan Georgios’a ait olan mührün (no. 6) yanı sıra bugüne kadar başka hiçbir mührü yayınlanmamış olan Ermeni kökenli önemli bir Bizans ailesinin üyesi olan Pharasmanes Apokapes’e ait olan 11. yüzyıla ait mühür dikkate değerdir. Bir diğer mühür grubu ise sadece sahibinin adı ya da aile adının belirtildiği örneklerden (no. 11-14 ve muhtemelen no. 17) oluşmaktadır. Tüm bu parçalar, 11. yüzyılın ikinci yarısı ile 13. yüzyıl arasındaki döneme tarihlenmektedir. Koleksiyonda, her iki yüzünde de sahibinden bahseden herhangi bir yazıt bulunmayan, kutsal figürlerin tasvir edildiği iki ikonografik mühür (no. 15-16) ve son olarak 11. yüzyılın sonuna tarihlenen tanımlanamayan bir mühür (no. 17) daha bulunmaktadır.

Keywords

Bizans Kurşun Mühürleri, Pera Müzesi, Bizans Sigillografisi, Suna ve İnan Kıraç Vakfı, Konstantinos IX Monomachos, Pharasmanes Apokapes, Leon Mosele, imparatoriçenin topraklarının megas kourator’u

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