The Seals of the Collection Adolfo Eidelstein
Caesarea Maritima
By (author) J.-C. Cheynet By (author) A. Eidelstein
More than half a century ago, Adolfo Eidelstein assembled a collection of around eight hundred Roman and Byzantine lead seals. These objects all come from Caesarea in Roman Palestine or its immediate surroundings. This feature makes the collection particularly interesting, as we often do not know the origin of published seals. Caesarea Maritima, founded by Herod the Great, became a Roman colony and then, in 390, the capital of Palaestina Prima. Governors and soldiers resided there. They kept a regular correspondence with the capital, probably via Cyprus, as some seals from Caesarea have Cypriot parallels. The city was a metropolitan see and a very brilliant intellectual centre, as evidenced by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea and the historian Procopius. It was the last provincial capital to resist the onslaught of the Arab conquerors. The seals reflect this history and these activities. They date mainly from the century preceding the Persian conquest, but some of them are of an earlier date, especially the imperial seals and others related to commercial activities. The iconography of the seals from the last century of Roman rule is marked by Christianity, showing some specific features such as the crosses of Golgotha, the Myrrhophores at the Tomb, and references to Saint Cornelius.
Many seals are in poor condition, which has led to hypothetical readings or identifications. We hope that this will encourage other researchers to explore this abundant but overlooked material from Late Antiquity.
- By (author) J.-C. Cheynet
- By (author) A. Eidelstein
Other Titles in this Series
L’apport des Assomptionnistes français aux études byzantines: une approche critique
Actes du colloque de Bucarest, 25-27 septembre 2014
Volume 21
Similar Books
«Solazoxa festa, stradolze e stracomplia»
Festschrift für Raymund Wilhelm zum 65. Geburtstag mit Beiträgen zu Diskurstraditionen und mittelalterlicher Philologie
Volume 249
A Collaborative Tapestry in Honour of Shirley Ann Brown / Une fresque brodée en l’honneur de Shirley Ann Brown
The Bayeux Tapestry Seen by her Colleagues and Friends / La Tapisserie de Bayeux vue par ses collègues et amis
Behind the Scenes of Medieval Roofs
An Overview of the Roofing Systems of Italian Churches
Volume 90
Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes – Journal of Medieval and Humanistic Studies
Volume 51
Innovation and Medieval Communities
The Circulation of Ideas and Practices in and out of the Town (1200-1500)
Volume 63
John Dunstaple Reading Boethius
John Dunstaple’s Annotations to Boethius’s “De institutione musica” in the Manuscript Oxford, Corpus Christi College Library, MS 118
Medieval Debates on Foreknowledge: Future Contingents, Prophecy, and Divination
Acts of the XXVII Annual Colloquium of the SIEPM, Trento 12-15 September 2023
Volume 31
Medieval Yeghegis, Armenia
History, Archaeology, Society. Local Multiplicities and Global Connections of a Rural Centre on the Silk Road(s)
Nicholas of Lyra’s Commentaries on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke
Franciscan Exegesis in a Time of Crisis
Power and Women in Southeast and Central Europe in Late Medieval and Early Modern Period (1300-1600)
Volume 10
The Anglo-Norman Bible’s Books of Kings, a Critical Edition
(BL Royal 1 C III, fols 234r-274v)
Volume 37
