Byzantine Lead Seals - The Stamoules’ Collection

Anastasios Stamoules was a Greek born in 1843 at the small town of Selymbria, Eastern Thrace, then a part of the Ottoman Empire. He studied in the Orthodox College of the Oecumenical Patriarchate at Constantinople. From very young age, he had started collecting objects relating to the history of Thrace. As a result a huge collection of Greek, Roman and Byzantine objects was formed. Unfortunately the biggest part of this collection was stolen by the troops of the Allies during WW I. The forced population displacement of the 1920's lead the whole family in Athens. In 1924 Stamoules donated the coins and the lead seals that managed to bring with him to the Numismatic Museum. This book presents in detail the Byzantine lead seals of Stamoules' Collection. What is important is that all seals were locally collected, at the small area around Selymbria; one could justifiably call it "the Selymbria Collection". The Byzantine city was an important strategic settlement located in the interior of the Long Walls of Thrace, at the end of Via Egnatia; it also was a religious centre, as is still obvious from the remains of many churches that survive. It is mentioned in the sources as an archdiocese and later as a metropolis. Therefore the seals of the Collection can also be used as a primary material for historical studies.