Dzmitry Vićko. On the Reattribution of the So-Called Seal of the Polack Prince Iziaslaŭ

The article examines the seal found in Novgorod in 1953, which, according to Valentin Yanin, belonged to Prince Iziaslav of Polack, who ruled at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. In 2014, Savva Mikheev suggested that the Greek name Sozon (Σώζων) was partly preserved in the legend of the seal without the first letter. This article proposes a complete reconstruction of the legend, which, most likely, was really Greek and indicated the belonging of the seal to the prince, whose Christian name was Sozont. There are also suggestions which of the princes could be the holder of this name and the owner of the seal, which most likely belongs to the 1120s – early 13th century (it was probably the Kiev Prince Vladimir Mstislavich or his probable grandson, the Pskov Prince Vladimir Yaroslavich, although it is difficult to say for sure). Despite the fact that the seal is later than previously thought, it is a very interesting monument of sphragistics, in particular due to the circular inscription, as well as due to its other features, which have signs of Byzantine influence.