Elias bishop of Berisse

Obverse
Bust of St. Stephen; details indistinct. Vertical inscription on either side: ο|σ|τ|.-φ|α|ν, : Ὁ (ἅγιος) Στ[έ]φαν(ος).
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.

+κ.R,θ,
ηλ.αε
πισκοπ,
Rερισ
σν

Κ(ύρι)[ε] β(οή)θ(ει) Ἠλ[ί]ᾳ ἐπισκόπ(ῳ) βερίσσων

Κύριε βοήθει Ἠλίᾳ ἐπισκόπῳ βερίσσων.

Lord, help Elias, bishop of Berisse.

Berisse, modern Bolu, was a bishopric of the province of Armenia, a suffragan of Sebasteia, 25 km southwest of Tokat. It is mentioned in the notitiae episcopatuum throughout the twelfth century (see Darrouzès, Notitiae, passim) but its bishops are attested only in the fifth and sixth centuries: our specimen shows that the see continued to function effectively in the eleventh century. See Janin, in DHGE 8, 498-499; and Fedalto, HEO I, 54.

DUMBARTON OAKS
ACCESSION NUMBER BZS.1947.2.141
DO Seals 4, no. 50.1.