Η σημασία και η χρήση των σφραγίδων κατά την κλασική αρχαιότητα
Part of : Αρχαιογνωσία ; Vol.8, No.1-2, 1993, pages 211-230
Issue:
Pages:
211-230
Parallel Title:
The significance and function of seals in classical antiquity
Section Title:
Μελέτες-Articles
Author:
Abstract:
The Greek word for sea/ is σφραγίς (sphragis). Seals were included in the generic family of characters, along with coins. The notion of sealing a cabinet or cupboard, a room or a cellar, a letter or a legal document to claim ownership, and hence safeguard its privacy, comes very early in Greek practice and is adequately reflected in literature. The word for sealing was mainly sphragisma or aposphragisma (in addition: semeion, semantron, semanterion, typos, ektypoma, symbolonj. The word sphragis, however, could also be used to indicate the sealing rather than the seal, as suggested by several passages (Hell. vii. I. 39; Luc., Alex. 21 etc.).Seals in Antiquity were widely used to mark one's property, to record authority, and secure the privacy of objects and documents. Clay or wax sealings could easily be broken when they secured a letter or a room, but their violation could not pass unnoticed. In most of the cases there was an obvious list of suspects (wife, slaves, messenger). The effectiveness of a sea! against its potential violator was based on fear of accusation rather than reverence for the sea! itself. The latter must have been the case with public or royal seals, the function of which was mainly to authorise a document, along with preventing illicit access to it. Although literary sources tend to stress the importance of individual seals, it seems that they do so to serve dramatic necessity rather than offer an accurate reflection of reality. The trivia/ and repetitive subject matter of most Greek seals suggests that, as far as we can appreciate them, they were hardly individual. Even in the case of the Late Hellenistic papyri where the image of the sea! employed is included in the wording of the document, the signet specified would have been one of several dozens with the same subject in circulation. It seems that, in all periods, the act of sealing was more important than the sea! itself.
Subject:
Subject (LC):
Keywords:
σφραγίδες
