A Unique Crusader-Period Lead Seal from the Old City of Jerusalem

A unique lead seal of the Byzantine Patriarch of Jerusalem, Leontios II (1176–1184/85), was discovered in a salvage excavation in Jerusalem’s Old City. This is the first seal of this patriarch to have been found, confirming the sojourn of Leontios II to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1177–1178. It also sheds new light on the attempts of the Byzantine emperor, Manuel I Komnenos, to maintain his influence over the reigning Jerusalem dynasty.