Description
State officials in the early Byzantine Empire often inspected newly made silver objects and stamped them to attest to the purity of the metal. Four such stamps on the bottom of this cup for Communion wine contain, together with the inspectors' names, the monograms of Emperor Justinian (ruled 527-65) and of his minister Peter (served 547-50). The donor of the chalice was a state official whose name is recorded in the text along the rim: "For the prayer and salvation of the imperial agent Symeonius and of his household."
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