Areobindos, eparchos (?), 6th century. Seal (Lead, 16 mm, 6.32 g, 12 h). Three animal bodies sharing a single head. Rev. Large block monogram of APEOBINΔOV EΠAPXOV (?). Unpublished in the standard references. An intriguing early Byzantine seal with very unusual iconography. Very fine.


This seal apparently shows three animal bodies sharing a single, central head. Strikingly similar imagery appears on a coin type of Caesarea Paneas, showing three goats sharing the same head, besides a figure of Pan playing his flute (Y. Meshorer, The City Coins of Eretz-Israel and the Decapolis in the Roman Period in: INJ 8, plate 15, no. 59). The type also appears on coins of Bithynium-Claudiopolis (RG 57 pl. XLIII.9 = BMC 13 pl. XXVI.5, SNG Von Aulock 339, both misdescribed). The iconography is apparently unattested on seals, apart from an unpublished seal in the Boersema collection, showing a reverse monogram of EΠAPXOV. Unfortunately, it must remain uncertain why the owner of this seal chose this ancient image as his personal device.