The artifact belongs to the final period of lead seals, after which wax seals came into use.
A seal dating back to the reign of Ivan III was discovered in Moscow's Romanov Lane during archaeological work.
According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, this is a unique find, as it is the first grand-princely seal found directly within the city, and belongs to the final period of lead seals, after which wax seals became common. The place of its discovery corresponds to the cultural layer of the first half to the middle of the 16th century.
One side of the artifact bears the image of St. George the Victorious, and the other side bears an engraved inscription that reads: “Seal of Prince Ivan Vasilievich the Great”. Such seals were used to certify important state documents concerning both domestic and foreign policy of that time, Sobyanin notes in his Telegram channel.
This valuable historical find was discovered near the Church of the Sign in the Sheremetev yard, where large-scale archaeological research is currently underway. In recent years, archaeologists have found more than three thousand different artifacts at this site, but this seal is by far the most valuable and significant discovery.
To realize its historical importance, it should be recalled that Ivan III the Great, known as “the collector of the Russian land”, played a key role in the formation of a unified Russian state. During his reign, a unified code of laws was adopted, the liberation from the Horde yoke was completed, and the Moscow Kremlin and the Uspensky Cathedral were erected.
At present, restorers have completed work on the restoration of the seal, and it will be transferred to the collection of the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation, the mayor said.
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