★ A very unusual depiction of an eagle ★

Byzantine Seals. Seal (Lead, 25 mm, 15.36 g, 11 h), David, asekretis, 2nd half of 10th century. Eagle standing facing, wings spread and head to right, and with a jeweled band tied around his neck; around, six pellets. Rev. +KЄ/R ΔAΔ A/CHKPH/TIC ('Lord, aid David, asekretis') in four lines. Apparently unpublished and unique, and of great interest. A beautifully made and very well struck seal. Graffito of N on the obverse, otherwise, about extremely fine.

The obverse of this seal shows a remarkable eagle with spread wings and what seems to be a jeweled band around its neck. The image resembles eagles found on contemporaneous silks, most notably the Albuin chasuble, now in Brixen. Eagles are found ubiquitously on seals of the pre-iconoclastic era, but they become extremely rare in middle-Byzantine times. In this later stage, they had lost their pagan connection to the Roman eagle, and served as a symbols for John the Evangelist or for the Resurrection of Christ. The present seal names David, who served as an asekrites, a senior secretary, at the imperial court.