A bronze amulet, designed to be hung around the neck, with a depiction of a holy rider on the obverse and the first lines of Psalm 91: + ὁ κατο|ικõν ἐν βοε|θείᾳ τοῦ ὑ|ψίστου ἐν | σκέ{ι}πῃ | τοῦ <θεοῦ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται>/'+ He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High under the shelter of the ', engraved on the reverse. Diameter: 0.045 m. The holy rider is shown under a star, with a spear, resembling a cross. He is killing a lying female demon, depicted next to the evil eye, surrounded by daggers. The identity of the rider is unclear, but the saints usually depicted on such amulets were: George (S00259), Sisinnios (S00608), Theodore (S00480), and Sergios (S00023). Flourentzos, however, places the object in the context of 'Solomon' pendants, mentioning the Biblical king of Israel, Solomon, and his exorcisms (see also: Michaelides 1994). Though our object shares some iconographic motifs with those charms, we doubt that the depicted rider is Solomon himself.
Found in the autumn of 1995 near an ancient road in the lower city of Amathous (southern Cyprus), in a layer of charcoal mixed with burnt soil. First published by Pavlos Flourentzos in 2002. He dated the object to the 7th c., based on the stratigraphy of the find-spot, but did not attempt to identify the rider.
The deposition of the object in soil is stratigraphically dated to the 7th c.
Amulet 2: Palma di Cesnola 1884, 151, no. 41, and plate XV, fig. 63, after page 148.
An oval amulet (jasper stone) with an unlabelled depiction, possibly of a holy rider. Diameter: 0.016 m. Designed to be set in a ring. The figure is facing left and holding a lance, with a cross at its end, high above his head. There are no demons and evil entities represented. Originally identified as a common horseman, and 'a very early work' by Alessandro Palma di Cesnola, but the presence of the cross-like lance may mean that the rider is a Christian holy figure.
The amulet was first published (without a detailed description) in 1882 by Alessandro Palma di Cesnola, together with a number of similar objects, that could not be associated with the Christian religion. All of them were found in Cyprus, near or at Salamis/Constantia, during the excavations supervised by the Palma di Cesnola brothers. For their activity, see the comments in E01322.
History
Evidence ID
E01326
Saint Name
George, martyr in Nicomedia or Diospolis, ob. c. 303 : S00259
Sisinnios (unspecified) : S00608
Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023
Theodore Tiro, martyr of Amaseia (Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor), ob. 306 : S00480
Merkourios,
Amulet 2: Palma di Cesnola 1884, plate XV, fig. 63, after page 148.
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed objects
Images and objects - Rings and seals
Images and objects - Other portable objects (metalwork, ivory, etc.)
Literary - Magical texts and amulets
Language
Greek
Evidence not before
300
Evidence not after
800
Activity not before
300
Activity not after
800
Place of Evidence - Region
Aegean islands and Cyprus
Aegean islands and Cyprus
Place of Evidence - City, village, etc
Salamis
Amathous
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Salamis
Salamis
Σαλαμίς
Salamis
Salamis
Farmagusta
Far
Κωνσταντία
Konstantia
Constantia
Amathous
Salamis
Σαλαμίς
Salamis
Salamis
Farmagusta
Far
Κωνσταντία
Konstantia
Constantia
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Cult activities - Use of Images
Private ownership of an image
Cult Activities - Miracles
Other miracles with demons and demonic creatures
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Demons
Cult Activities - Cult Related Objects
Other
Bibliography
Edition:
Amulet 1:
Flourentzos, P., "A rare magic bronze pendant from Amathous", Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus 2002, 365-367.
Reference works:
L'Année épigraphique (2002), 1495.
Bulletin épigraphique (2006), 562.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 52, 1488.
Amulet 2:
Palma di Cesnola, A., Salaminia (Cyprus): the history, treasures, & antiquities of Salamis in the island of Cyprus, with an introduction by Samuel Birch (London: Whiting & Co., 1884, 2nd ed.), 151, no. 41, and plate XV, fig. 63, after page 148.
Further reading:
Michaelides, D., "A Solomon pendant and other amulets from Cyprus", in: Jentel, M.-O., Deschênes-Wagner, G., Bernard, B., d'Aigle Tremblay, Cl. (eds.), Tranquillitas VII. Mélanges en l'honneur de Tran tam Tinh (Québec: Université Laval, 1994), 409ff.
Vikan, G., "Art, medicine and magic in early Byzantium", Dumbarton Oaks Papers 38 (1984), 65-86.