E00798: Greek inscription with an exorcism against a demon of hailstorms, invoking *Raphael (the Archangel, S00481), other non-canonical archangels and probably the *Twenty-four Elders of the Book of Revelation (S00482). Found near Philadelphia (Lydia, western Asia Minor), probably late antique (4th-8th c.).
'[Exorcism to avert] hailstorm. [I exorcise you, the demon who suddenly stands on] the seething air, when it thunders and lightning flashes, and sends down [hail]. I exorcise [you, demon,] by the name of the [male bird's] egg. [I exorcise] you, [demon] with the flaming mouth. [Leave] the boundaries of the [village of the Ninth (Mile)]. I exorcise you by [the power of God Sab]aoth and of the throne of the Lord. [Leave the boundaries of the] village [of the Nin]th (Mile). I exorcise you [- - -] by the (Twenty-four?) Elders (of the Book of Revelation?) and the [- - -]. Leave the boundaries of the [village of the] Nin[th (Mile)]. I exorcise you] by the name of Ouphridiel and [- - -] I exorcise you [- - - by the letters a] e ē i o u ō [- - - Leave the boundaries of the] village of the Ninth (Mile). [Archangels:] Raphael, Ragouel, Istrael, [Agath]oel, seal [- - -] around the village of the Ninth (Mile).'
Text: TAM V/3, no. 1659. Translation: P. Nowakowski, E. Rizos.
History
Evidence ID
E00798
Saint Name
Raphaēl, the Archangel : S00481
Twenty-four Elders of Revelation : S00482
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Philadelphia
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
Nicomedia
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Cult Activities - Miracles
Exorcism
Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather)
Miraculous protection - of communities, towns, armies
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Peasants
Source
Right hand side of a marble plaque broken into two parts, found near the village of Tepeköy, to the north-east of Alaşehir (ancient Philadelphia). Last seen in 1906 by Keil and von Premerstein: it was kept in a private collection in Kula. A copy, they made, is now kept in Vienna. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.68 m; W. 0.33 m; Th. 0.03 m.
Discussion
The inscription offers us a partially preserved exorcism against the demon of hailstorm. Several heavenly creatures are invoked to exorcise this evil spirit, e.g.: *Raphael the Archangel, other non-canonical archangels (Ragouel, Istrael, [Agath]oel) and possibly the *Twenty-four Elders of the Book of Revelation. The exorcism was composed for a specific village and its name is several times repeated in the exorcism.
Ancient peasants considered hailstorms as a major threat to the crops. They created various magical devices (phylakteria) to shield them from the bad weather. Our inscription is an unusually durable version of such a charm. Similar exorcisms are studied, for example, by Jeanne and Louis Robert (Hellenica, vol. 9, 63-64), French 1996, 89 and Kotansky 1994, 46-52. For a Greek inscription from Avignon in Gallia Narbonensis, with a magical spell averting every hailstorm and every snowstorm and every damage, see IG XIV 2481. A leaf of lead, with a citation of Psalm 79(80) was found on the island of Rhodes. Its author puts strong emphasis on the image of Israel as the vine sprout, and therefore, the charm is considered as a phylakterion protecting local vineyards from hailstorms (see IGC 128).
Henri Grégoire rightly describes our text as a ʻChristianised exorcismʼ, combining both Christian and pagan beliefs. Line 5 refers to the ‘egg of a male bird’ (ᾠόν ἀρσενικοῦ ὄρνιθος), which is attested also in a magical papyrus published in PGM II XII 110. Line 15 contains a sequence of vowels: α] ε η ι ο υ ω. Cumont points out that the seven vowels could refer to the seven planets, known to the ancients, or to seven Archangels that were connected to them. Archangels, vowels and planets are also associated in an invocation from Miletus (see E00810). In line 19 Archangels are asked to seal a certain area (περισφραγίσετε). In Christian texts the noun ʻsealʼ (σφράγις) usually means baptism or the sign of the cross, called ʻholy sealʼ (see the Life of Macrina by Gregory of Nyssa where he tells a story about a person who was healed by ἁγία σφράγις. PG 46: col. 992B).
Bibliography
Edition:
Tituli Asiae Minoris V/3, no. 1659.
Grégoire, H. (ed.), Recueil des inscriptions grecques chrétiennes d'Asie Mineure, vol. 1 (Paris: Leroux, 1922), no. 341(ter).
Cumont, F., "Les inscriptions chrétiennes de l'Asie Mineure", Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire 15 (1895), no. 122.
Papadopoulos-Kerameus, A., "ΕΠΙΓΡΑΦΑΙ ΕΞ ΙΩΝΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΥΔΙΑΣ", Athenische Mitteilungen 6 (1881), no. 20.
Further Reading:
French, D.H., "Amasian Notes 4. Cults and Divinities: The Epigraphic Evidence", Epigraphica Anatolica 26 (1996), 89.
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 82.
Kotansky, R., Greek Magical Amulets: The Inscribed Gold, Silver, Copper, and Bronze Lamellae, part 1: Published Texts of Known Provenance (Papyrologica Coloniensia 22/1, Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1994), pp. 46-52 (the inscription is mentioned on p. 49).
Robert, J., Robert, L., Hellenica. Recueil d'épigraphie, de numismatique et d'antiquités grecques, vol. 9: Inscriptions et reliefs d'Asie Mineure (Paris: La librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient Adrien Maisonneuve, 1950), 63-64.
For charms protecting from hailstorms, see:
Nieto, F.J.F., "La pizarra visigoda de carrio y el horizonte clásico de los χαλαζοφύλακες", in: J.M. Blázquez, A. González Blanco, R. González Fernández (eds.), La tradición en la Antigüedad Tardia, Antigüedad y Cristianismo 14 (Murcia 1997), 259-286.