Research Information System
Gephyra, vol.20, pp.113-126, 2020 (Scopus)
© 2020, Archaeology and Art Publications. All rights reserved.The recent synthesis of Roman-period amulets by C. A. Faraone has highlighted the significance of such artefacts in strategies of personal and group protection and healing throughout Greek and Roman antiquity. A specific group of such amulets, on semi-precious stones engraved with images, intercultural words of power, and special signs, was created in late-Hellenistic Egypt, but spread into the eastern Mediterranean mainly in the Roman period. This paper publishes two such magical amulets, one in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and the other in the Erim-tan Museum of Archaeology and Art, both in Ankara. The first carries a fine example of the cock-headed Anguipede figure on the obverse, and, on the reverse, three of the Judaic names of God most commonly found on amulets in this tradition. The second gem offers no iconography but an interesting Greek inscription, followed by three special signs, appealing to the goddess Gaia (Earth) to protect the wearer. The paper has two main aims: to contribute to the aim of completing the digital Campbell Bonner Magical Gems database, organised by Á.M. Nagy in Budapest, which has taken the study of these gems to a new level, and to make these amuletic gems better known in Turkey.