Sasanian Pseudo-Signet-Ring Excavated at the Palace of Mangup: The Aspects of Its Attribution and Interpretation

In 2006, the excavation of the palace of the rulers of the Principality of Theodoro (1425–1475) in the central area of the ancient town of Mangup (south-western Crimea) uncovered a unique at this site signet-ring of yellowish chalcedony made in the sixth or early seventh century in Sasanian Iran. This find belongs to a group of the so-called pseudo-signet-rings (muhr); it shows an ellipsoidal shape (flattened hemisphere) with a narrow channel for hanging on the neck, wrist, or belt. On the shield of the signet-ring there is an image of a mountain sheep (аrhar) with steeply curved horns, lying to the left, with the legs tucked. It was accompanied with a number of official symbols of the ruling dynasty in the Sassanian State: the royal bow ashkharavand (of a ribbon tied round a front leg of the animal), a crescent with the horns upward (a young Moon, one of the symbols of the dynasty), and atashdan (Zoroastrian temple altar with burning fire). The composition of this image goes back to the legend about the founder of the Sassanian dynasty King Ardashir I (224–240), who defeated the last Parthian ruler Artaban V (213–224) and ascended the throne with the help from the deity of royal power, victory, might, luck, and glory Farr embodied in the mountain ram. Therefore, the first owner of the signet-ring was a member of the privileged part of the Sassanian society, using the ring to make signature or as a sign of ownership when sealing personal documents and items of trade transactions. Considering the circumstances of the discovery of the Sassanian ring in the cultural layer of one of the largest Byzantine fortresses in Taurica obviously constructed at the end of the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527–565), it is hardly worth thinking of direct official correspondence between the local Byzantine administration and someone from Iranian correspondents or the presence of the military contingents from Persia. Most likely, the find in question was simply a trophy of a Byzantine officer who took part in one of the many Byzantine-Sassanian military campaigns of the second half of the sixth or the first third of the seventh centuries and then continued his service in the garrison of Mangup-Doros.

Artsruni-Senaichereim Family in the Byzantine Administration of the Eleventh-Century Balkan Themes

In 2009, Valentina S. Shandrovskaia published a seal of Sebatas Senaichereim, protospatharios and strategos of the theme of Servia and dated it from the late of the tenth to the early eleventh centuries. Anton S. Mokhov dated this molybdoboullon to the second half of the 980s. Additionally, the latter used John Skylitzes’s account that Nikephoros Xiphias, following the order of the Emperor Basil II the Bulgar Slayer, destroyed and razed to the ground all the fortresses in the regions of Servia and Soska to claim that the destruction of the fortress of Servia and the liquidation of this theme date to 1018. This paper doubts the said interpretations. The paper’s author considers that the family name of Senaichereim included into the patronymic of Sebatas contradicts the dates proposed by A. S. Mokhov. The Senaichereim family descended from the king of Vaspurakan (Armenia) Senekerim Artsruni. He and his family appeared in Byzantium in 1021. His descendants could become the Senaicheriem family only after his death ca 1024. Therefore, Sebatas’ reign in Servia possibly dates to the 1020s, and the theme of Servia could hardly be liquidated in 1018.

Integration Processes in the Polyethnic Society of the Peloponnesos after the Byzantine Restoration of 1262

This paper addresses the problem of the Greek-Latin frontier in the Peloponnesos in the second half of the thirteenth century. In 1262, Byzantium regained control over a part of the peninsula. This action disrupted the order that developed there during fifty years and changed the power balance in the region. The author has analysed the transformation of the frontier society of the Peloponnesos when Byzantine administration returned to the country and the peculiarities of integration processes and socio-cultural interethnic interaction under the changed political realities. The sources for the research were the Chronicle of Morea and Latin and Byzantine legislative sources. It has been revealed that in the early years of the “Byzantine reconquest,” the struggle between the Byzantines and the Franks for the territories was accompanied by their rivalry for the political loyalty of the local population. Although the Byzantine strategy of encouraging the Greek resettlement from the Frankish regions to the regions of Mistra had some impact, these migrations did not become widespread; neither did complete isolation of the Greek population from the Latin occur. In the conditions of intensive socio-cultural exchange, the political loyalty of the mixed population of the peninsula was determined either by personal motives or by the wish to have protection, which was especially important in time of military operations. Despite frequent military conflicts, the mixed Greco-Latin society continued to exist and develop, and the persons living in changing political and cultural realities often had to manoeuvre between the Franks and the Byzantines. The conclusion is that the Byzantine restoration in the Peloponnesos did not interrupt the integration processes, and the frontier society kept its special and complex way of life that shaped on the border of the Latin and Byzantine civilizations.

Some Elements of Communication Theory in Theodore Metochites’ Memorable Notes (Ch. 1–26, 71)

This paper is aimed at the complex investigation of the communication and its ontological basis in Theodore Metochites’ (1270–1332) Memorable Notes (Semeioseis gnomikai). In the Memorable Notes Metochites oriented himself toward those authors who, like Plutarch, tried to discuss everything, including history, culture, and the being in general, in a philosophical manner. The speechlessness as the subject matter of Ch. 1 and 9 is compensated, according to Theodore, with a creative liberty and the possibility to discuss every topic, which is inherent to everybody, but, first and foremost, members of the intellectual elite. The conflict of these two ideas, i. e., of the speechlessness and of the liberty to think and speak, forms the antinomy of communication, being of importance for Theodore’s thought. Similar opinions of late medieval authors seemed to pave the way for Kant’s third antinomy. Moreover, the theme of the lack of something new to discuss and talk over continued the Aristotelian topics. Finally, in Metochites’ thought, the life of a human being, like those of society and cosmos as a whole, passes through the same stages as a person’s utterance: the cosmos history in its dynamics reminds speech or, more specifically, conversation or dialogue. This intertwinement of Aristotle’s ideas from De interpretatione with those from St. John’s Gospel prologue is a hallmark of that Byzantine-Christian Hellenism which was discussed in Antonio Garzya’s seminal paper of 1985. Besides, Theodore also discussed the unity of the notion of number among all the people. It means that it is the mathematical knowledge which can get a basis for a “conciliarity”, or “all-unity”, at least for the thinking part of the humankind. It is particularly important since the ultimate goal of communication is, therefore, a revealing of the ontological truth of things and events.

Winegrower’s Knives in the Mediaeval Crimea

This paper addresses the archaeological evidence of the development of viticulture in the mediaeval Crimea as a specialized branch of agriculture. Although the scholarship mentions the areas where vines were planted (Dimitraki hollow, the vicinity of the castle of Siuiren’, Mangup, etc.), these publications do not provide any appropriate descriptions or illustrations. Therefore, reliable archaeological sources include primarily the finds of special winegrower’s knives with a curved (crescent-shaped) blade. There are three zones of their distribution in the south-western (vicinity of Cherson, Eski-Kermen, Mangup, and the vicinity of the castle of Siuiren’), south-eastern (Tepsen’ and Kordon-Oba), and southern Crimea (Isar-Kaia and the vicinity of the castle of Funa). Their chronology covers the period from the eighth to thirteenth centuries. There are two main groups of winegrower’s knives determined according to their morphological features: group 1 comprises tanged knives and group 2 socketed knives. Each group is divided into two subgroups, depending on the presence or absence of a special trapezoidal protrusion, or “axe”, on the back of the blade. The iconographic materials demonstrate that winegrower`s knives of subgroup 1B occurred in the Late Byzantine Period (tanged winegrower’s knife with a sub-rectangular “axe” on the back of the blade). Western European Late Mediaeval miniatures demonstrate the functional use of winegrower`s knives of subgroup 1A (small tanged knives with no “axe”) intended for cutting bunches of grapes.

New Byzantine Lead Seal from the Area of the Medieval Fortress of Rusokastro (South-Eastern Bulgaria)

This paper analyses a Byzantine lead seal discovered in 2019 and now residing in the Regional Historical Museum in Burgas (Bulgaria). According to the legend, it belonged to a Byzantine official Michael by name, who held the position of (imperial) protonotarios and judge. This seal originates from the area of the medieval fortress of Rusokastro located in south-eastern Bulgaria. The obverse depicts facing bust of St. Archangel Michael, nimbate, wearing mail armour, which is encircled with the border of dots. The image is framed with a partially preserved continuous circle. Archangel Michael holds a spear in his right hand, with its top part partially worn off by mechanical damage. To the right of the spear is well legible letter M, and to the left of the image, at the worn off flattened area of the field, there is a relatively well-preserved letter X, i. e. abbreviations of the name of St. Archangel Michael. On the reverse is an inscription in four lines reading: “+ Lord help Michael, (imperial?) protonotarios and judge.” The seal dates from the tenth to the early eleventh century.

Christ as Comes Augusti: On the Question of Numismatic Iconography of Justinian II

This paper compares iconography of the “image of power” on Roman coins of Emperor Aurelian (minted in Serdica, minted in 274–275) and Byzantine pieces of Emperor Justinian II (Constantinople and several Western provincial mints, 705–711). Not synchronous coin types demonstrate the similarity of the idea and image, which affirmed the divine power over the earthly empire in the pagan and Christian periods of its existence. This was achieved due to the novelty of the iconographic language: the half-length images of Sol and Christ, both titled “dominus”, are placed on obverse, with their physiognomy close to the appearance of the ruling emperor showed as a portrait or standing figure on reverse. The iconography of sun deity Sol called the “Lord of the Roman Empire” on the coins of Aurelian anticipated the iconography of Christ as the Lord and “Rex regnantium” on the coins of Justinian II; the latter, in the version from 705–711, inherited pre-Christian tradition of paired images of emperor and his deity-patron on the Roman coins (third and fourth centuries), demonstrating a “personal union” of the ruler and the deity.

Architrave Slab of the Entrance into the Gate Church of Funa

The gate church of the Theodorite castle near the village of Funa appeared in 1459 and existed to 1778. Left unattended later on, it became decayed, quickly dilapidated, and finally turning into ruin after the earthquake of 1927. The experts’ conclusions concerning its origin are based mainly on the typical features of the architectonics and carved decoration of the structure, correlated with the traditions of Armenian architecture and Seljuk ornamentation. The most exquisite architectural detail of the building is the large slab with relief ornamentation that overlapped from outside the doorway of the south entrance. Two iconographic sources are published for the first time to supply new information about the slab in question along with the results of a substantive study of a large fragment of the artefact which was found by chance outside the castle short time ago. Almost a half of the composition that adorned the outermost part of the architrave survived. Its completely lost middle part can be reconstructed reliably by the photograph taken by N. N. Klepinin and the drawing by D. M. Strukov. The ornamental motif of the slab is one of the most popular in mediaeval art, being typical of the eastern decorative tradition. It is still not possible to discover the origin and exact date of the architrave which was secondary used in the church of 1459. Stylistically, structurally, and technologically it is comparable with carved architectural details of many main buildings of the capital town of Theodoro, which were erected in the 1420s. Therefore, the slab in question possibly has the same chronology, but still it could be made even earlier.

Figurative Images in the Early Christian Funeral Paintings of Chersonese

The paintings of the 11 early Christian burial vaults of Chersonese uncovering the image of the Garden of Eden fully correspond to the traditions of the Late Antique art. There figurative images are very rare, and not all of them have been interpreted properly. Single man’s figures preserved in the painting of three vaults (of the years 1853/1905, 1909 and in the vault on N. I. Tur’s land) are of particular interest for the determination of the time and ways of penetration of this artistic tradition into early Christian Chersonese. A comparative analysis of funeral paintings from different regions of the Eastern Roman Empire makes it possible to determine the function of the mentioned images of men in the painting of these tombs and to explain their origin in early Christian burials. According to the fragments that survived, all three figures of young men are very similar in dress and posture. Probably, they all held a burning candle in the hands, the image of which survived only in the vault of the year 1909. These images are comparable to the figures of servants from a number of tombs discovered in the Balkans, Asia Minor, North Africa, and Levant. The young men from Chersonese are most close to the images of male servants from the tombs in Bulgaria and Serbia. From the analogies given in this paper there are reasons to interpret the figures of young men in the three vaults of Chersonese as images of servants. Figures of servants were widespread in ancient art and also in Christian burials to the end of the fourth century. Most likely, these figures appeared in the paintings of Chersonese under the influence of the Eastern Balkan artistic tradition.

Seal of Konstantinos, the Son of the Protoproedros and Exousiokrator of All Alania (ca 1065–1075)

This paper offers a corrected reading of a lead seal excavated at Anakopia which belonged to Konstantinos, the son of the protoproedros and exousiokrator of all Alania. Although the palaeography of the seal dates it to the second half of the eleventh century, the historical context and the title of protoproedros makes the chronology narrow, as 1065–1075. This find can be linked to the Byzantine-Georgian conflict over Anakopia and probably to the negotiations on returning the town to the Georgian king which happened shortly after 1074. The narrow chronology of the seal speaks in favour of the identification of the Alanian exousiokrator as Dorgholel (mentioned in 1068), thus excluding the possibility that Konstantinos of the seal and Konstantinos Alanos (mentioned in 1045–1047) were the same person. The former Konstantinos, a possible heir to Dorgholel, might be a brother of Irene, the wife of protoproedros Isaak Komnenos, so the same high title given to his father in 1065–1075 points to a Byzantine-Alan alliance which made possible the marriage of Irene and Isaak Komnenos in 1072 and the participation of 6,000 Alanian horsemen in suppressing Roussel de Bailleul’s revolt in 1073–1074. The unique title of “exousiokrator of all Alania” attested on the seal and in the list of the metropolitans of Bulgaria possibly reflected the struggle of the Alanian ruler against centrifugal tendencies in his domain during the twelfth century; its later disappearance suggests that this title was a Dorgholel’s situational invention.