Power in your Hands: Byzantine Coins/Seals

20 mins: Curator Led Tour
30 mins: Object Study with Curator.
30 mins: Activity striking coin or seal-making
10 mins: Reflection and Surveys

Curator-led tour of Byzantine Gallery: Visit the Byzantine Gallery to learn the basics of the Byzantine Empire (time period, location, society, values, etc.) and of Byzantine coins or seals specifically.

Object Study: Hands-on study of coins or seals in the collection under the curator’s supervision through close-looking and open-ended inquiry.
//Seals track: Students will analyze how Byzantine seals represented the identity of the owner through images and inscriptions. Notice details of clothing, accessories, monograms, etc. that contribute to the portrayal of figures on seals, and that therefore reflect on the seal’s owner.
//Coins track: Students will analyze how late antique and early Byzantine coins expressed imperial power and conquest. Students will consider how does a state present itself to its own people, its neighbors, and those it has conquered?
By decoding political and religious imagery, students will analyze the processes of social, religious, and political change and apply material culture to the historical narrative.
Activity: Striking coin or seal-making (35 mins) Students will strike their own Byzantine coin using a die, hammer, and metal blanks (outdoors; weather permitting). Students will design their own personalized seal on linoleum blocks and strike an impression on silver clay.
The objectives of the program are to explore conquest, power, identity and self-representation through Dumbarton Oaks’ collection of Byzantine coins and seals, to engage students through experiential learning with object-based discussions and a hands-on arts activity striking coins and designing their own seal, and to develop students’ visual literacy skills through close-looking. Students will learn how Byzantine coins and seals were designed to communicate one’s position in society and assert power. Students will synthesize how personal identity is represented in Byzantine seals and create a seal presenting their own identities.