★ Michael, bishop of Ibora ★

Michael, bishop ('poimenarches') of Ibora, 11th century. Seal (Lead, 19 mm, 8.88 g, 12 h). [...]OHΘEI; to right, ΘV ('Mother of God, help') Nimbate Theotokos “Dexiokratousa” standing on dais, holding Christ, wearing cross nimbus, on her right arm, pointing towards him with her left hand. Rev. Tω Tω[N] / IRωPωN / MIXAHΛ / ΠOIMЄ/NA XP ('Of the Iborans, Michael, poimenarches') in four lines. DO IV 27.1; Laurent, Corpus V/3, 1722 and 1870. Some flatness, otherwise, very fine.

Ibora (modern Iverönü) was a suffragan bishopric of Amaseia in northern Asia Minor. The only known parallel is in the Dumbarton Oaks collection: it was initially published by Laurent in the 5th volume of his Corpus (no. 1722) with the correct attribution to a bishop of Ibora. However, Laurent later 'corrected' his attribution to 'Michel le métropolite', thus abandoning his initial reading of Ibora (no. 1870) as the word 'poimenarches' (lit. 'chief shepherd') is normally reserved for metropolitans, not simple bishops. The authors of the DO catalogue, however, returned to Laurent's first idea and proposed the reading 'Tω TωN' for the first line, where Laurent had read Tω Cω, despite the second T not being clearly legible. Our seal confirms the reading as 'Tω TωN': the reverse legend is a single standing twelve-syllable verse, and the use of the word 'poimenarches' instead of the conventional 'episkopos' may well be, as the authors of the DO catalogue suggest, poetic license.