Recent Studies on Byzantine Sigillography in TurkeyRecent Studies on Byzantine Sigillography in Turkey

Abstract

This paper will focus on the recent studies on Byzantine sigillography which are taken place in Turkey. Although, Turkey should be considered as one of the heirs of Byzantine Empire, the studies which focus on byzantine lead seals are extremely rare. First part of this paper will summarize on the history of sigillography in Turkey which gained a new momentum for the last five years. Studies on the subject became very popular among young scholars mainly after the lecture that was given by French scholar Jean-Claude Cheynet from Sorbonne University. Cheynet’s lecture on Byzantine sigillography was presented in 2008 and the international project called SigiDoc started after it. This project aims to create a database which can be accessible by every scholars. Within this project the first publication is on Istanbul Archeological Museum’s lead seal collection was published in 2012. During the preparative and editorial unfortunately we came across the poor conservation conditions of this important collection. The last part of the present paper will give brief information on the latest studies through the world on sigillography which are computer-based.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n10p13