BYZANTINE LEAD SEAL OF THE EKDIKOI OF HAGIA SOPHIA SHOWING IMAGE OF THE FAMOUS CHURCH (Inv. 13572)

$4,750.00

FPL V, 90 (19290). BYZANTINE EMPIRE. EKDIKOI OF THE HAGIA SOPHIA. Ca. 12th CENTURY.
Lead seal, 107.50 g, 56 mm.
Obv. [+VΠЄPAΓ]IA Θ[Є]O-TOKЄ ROHΘЄI, the Virgin and Justinian I supporting a model of the Hagia Sophia church; H/A/[Γ/I]/A C/O/Φ/I/A in central field. Rev. – • –/+TOIC ΘЄ/OCЄRЄCTA/TOIC ΠPЄC/RVTЄPOIC/ KAI ЄKKΛH/CЄKΔIK’/– • – in eight lines.
George Zacos, Byzantine Lead Seals, vol II, 65.
Ex Vilmar Numismatics FLP II (Winter 2021), no. 131.
VF, with good detail, a stress crack visible on the reverse. The ekdikoi were a college of priests responsible for the administration of holy sites. This is a rare instance where Justinian’s church of Hagia Sophia appears depicted on seals, part of a tradition in Byzantine and later religious art where the founder of a church is shown holding a model of the structure he sponsored.