Material: Cornelian
Date: 3rd century
Findspot: unknown
Dimensions: W: 1.6 cm
Current location: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California, 80.AN.132.2
The frontside of this amazing gem was completely engraved with magic signs and the backside and the edge with Greek inscriptions. It is an excellent example of ancient craftsmanship: The width of the gem is just 1.6 cm with the magic signs and Greek letters being less than 2 mm in size!
Only a handful of ancient magic gems were exclusively inscribed with magic signs on their frontside. These signs occur in inscriptions of about 20% of inscribed Graeco- Egyptian and Roman magical artefacts but usually in a much smaller number.
The typology of the signs reflects the typology of the magic signs attested in the Greek magical papyri. One of the most popular ancient magic signs is the so-called “Chnoubis-Sign because it frequently occurs next to depictions of this deity. It iss the sign resembling three ”S” crossed by a horizontal line, seen here in the middle of line three.
The inscription on the backside reads:
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- αρχ[…]οι arch[…]oi
- χουμε[…]χσου xhoume[…]chsou
- μαρταθραβωρθ martathrabôrth
- δαμενδρανομ damendranom
- ορφειμαλαμα orpheimalama
- ξαορυωνευαραχ xaoruôneuarach
- μαμθραιωιω mamthraiôiô
- ροχαμαραω rochamaraô
- θεουαηιω theouaêiô
- ωθωα ôthôa
The inscription on the edge comprises another divine name or word of power:
ιιιοοουυυνιβο iiiooouuunibo
The first line could have read “archangeloi” while lines 2-10 display unidentified divine names or words of power. The beginning of line 5 reads “orphei”, reminding of Orpheus, the founder and prophet of the Orphic mysteries. If the author of the inscription had intended to reference Orpheus cannot be said with certainty since the rest of the text does not provide any further information that could be related to an orphic context.
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