Figuring out the Anguipede (‘snake-legged god’) and his relation to Judaism

So-called magical gems constitute an especially rich body of material evidence for magic and religion in the Roman Empire. They differ from the ordinary run of gems in three respects: in their selection of iconographic types, normally divine images of one sort or another; by their use of magic words...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Roman archaeology 2002, Vol.15, p.159-172
Main Author: Nagy, Árpád M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
God
Judaism
Religion
Roman civilization
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Summary:So-called magical gems constitute an especially rich body of material evidence for magic and religion in the Roman Empire. They differ from the ordinary run of gems in three respects: in their selection of iconographic types, normally divine images of one sort or another; by their use of magic words and occasionally longer texts, primarily in Greek script; and by their use of magic signs, usually called characteres . At least one of these three elements must be present for a gem to be identifiable as magical. These “Zaubergemmen” form the most easily distinguishable sub-group of the wider class of amuletic gems, that is, engraved stones of talismanic function. The majority of the iconographic schemes appearing on magical gems adhere closely to the classical Graeco-Roman and Egyptian traditions. Others, however, are unique to this class of gems: rare even on other magical objects, they are practically unknown outside this sphere in the whole variety of ancient art.
ISSN:1047-7594
2331-5709
DOI:10.1017/S104775940001388X