★ A wonderful late Byzantine seal showing the prophet Daniel ★

Byzantine Seals. Seal (Lead, 37 mm, 36.70 g, 12 h), Liberos, sebastos, 13th century. O/ ΠP /OΦI/TH/C - Δ/A/NI/HΛ ('The prophet Daniel') The prophet Daniel standing facing, nimbate, raising both hands in prayer, lion on either side. Rev. + / KPITHC ΔA/NIHΛ KAI ΓP/AΦωN NVN Π/POCTATHC TЄΛЄH/CЄBACTU ΛIBЄPU/ΠPAXЄIC KPI/NωN ('The judge Daniel, who judges the acts of the sebastos Liberos, is now the guardian of his letters') in eight lines. Laurent, Orghidan 312. Laurent, Vatican 130. Wassiliou-Seibt, Corpus I, 1150. A very important seal of great historical interest. Minor scuff on the obverse, otherwise, good very fine.

The obverse of this wonderful late Byzantine seal calls Daniel 'prophet', but the double twelve-syllable verse on the reverse refers to him as 'judge' - evidently in allusion to the story of Susannah, in which the young Daniel acts as a judge by cross-examining and eventually exposing two lustful elders who had falsely accused Susannah of adultery. The seal belonged to Liberos, who bears the high court dignity of sebastos, and who may in fact have been named Daniel Liberos (Wassiliou-Seibt, Corpus I, p. 509).