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Full Description
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.
