Seals of Dolgoruky and a notary from the time of Monomakh were found in Suzdal

These are quite rare finds for the city – such lead bullae had only been found there four times before.

Archaeologists have discovered in the Suzdal Kremlin the seal of the notary Grigory, who lived during the time of Vladimir Monomakh, and outside the city ramparts – the seal of Yuri Dolgoruky, the son of this prince. These lead bullae were used to seal official documents. Hundreds of such seals come from some cities (Novgorod, Pskov), in Suzdal until today’s news only four seals were known. The discovery is reported by the website Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IA RAS)whose expedition carried out the excavations.

On one side of Dolgoruky’s seal is depicted Saint George, and on the other – a bident. Bidents were used only by representatives of the Rurik dynasty, but each one was slightly different. Since there were many representatives, not all of the bidents have been identified, but the sign of Yuri Vladimirovich is an exception. His symbol had a spur on the left tooth. And it is this that is indicated on the newly found seal. Saint George was the patron saint of the prince. On the bulla from Suzdal, he is shown in full chest, with a spear and shield. The saint’s head is surrounded by a halo of dots, to the right and left of it is the inscription divided into two: “GE OR”.

In total, eight such seals of Yuri Dolgoruky are known (including the described find). They come from Novgorod (1 piece), from Southern Rus’ (4), from North-Eastern Rus’ (3).

The prince’s bull was found on the southeastern outskirts of Suzdal, outside the rampart of the Outskirts of the city. The seal was found in a layer from the second half of the 12th – first half of the 13th centuries, along with other unusual finds: trade seals, a jewelry matrix, a book clasp, and a rare pectoral cross. There were no buildings in the excavation (it was small, about 130 square meters), but archaeologists believe that they came across an undeveloped section of some extraordinary estate. Similar rare items were previously found in other outskirts of Suzdal. This means that noble estates could have been located there as well.

The Kremlin seal depicts the bust of Our Lady Oranta (“Praying”) on one side, and an inscription on the other. Our Lady is shown with her hands raised in prayer, her head and shoulders covered with a cloak wrapped around her chest. The inscription on the reverse side is Greek and translates as “Our Lady, help your servant Gregory the Notary.” Both the inscription and the image are outlined with a dotted frame.

Notaries’ seals are well known in Byzantium, where they were engaged in the execution of various documents: wills, deeds of gift, marriage contracts, purchases or sales, etc. In Rus’, there is almost no information about them, but one can assume the need for such specialists, at least based on the large number of lead seals (which

If we add the Suzdal find, the total number of known seals of Gregory the Notary will be 12. Their geography is quite diverse: five such seals are from Southern Rus’, two from Western Russian lands, three from the central part of the Rostov-Suzdal land, one from the Beloozero region, and one from the outskirts of Torzhok. Such latitude and the image of the Mother of God give reason to believe that Gregory served a major church hierarch, perhaps even the Kyiv Metropolitan. Indeed, on ancient Russian seals such images usually indicate a connection with the church, but Gregory, as researchers believe, was a native of Byzantium, and there the Mother of God Oranta was depicted on secular bullae as well. At the same time, judging by the errors in the Greek text and some features of the drawing that reveal unprofessionalism, the matrix for the seals was made in Rus’, not in Byzantium.

Analogies from the empire date back to the 11th century. The circumstances of the discovery, alas, add little to this – the notary’s seal comes from a redeposited cultural layer (this is the name given to a layer that is heavily damaged and displaced, in which finds from different periods may be mixed). The seal was found during observations of excavation work in the Kremlin Park (the northern part of the Suzdal Kremlin).