The studies in this book derive from an international workshop held in Budapest in 2012 on magical gems: precious stone amulets engraved with inscriptions, images and magical signs, which represent the most sophisticated amulet type of the Roman Imperial Period. With contributors from a number of scholarly disciplines (classical archaeology, classical philology, Egyptology, Jewish studies, history of religions), the book provides a comprehensive overview of its subject, highlighting the many perspectives from which it can be studied, and bringing this long neglected object group on the wider horizons of classical research.
Kata Endreffy is curator at the Collection of Classical Antiquities of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. She is an Egyptologist and editor of the Campbell Bonner Magical Gems Database.
Árpád M. Nagy is Keeper of the Collection of Classical Antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, with research focused on ancient iconography and sculpture. He is the editor-in-chief of the Campbell Bonner Magical Gems Database.
Jeffrey Spier is Senior Curator of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. His interests include Greek art, early Christian iconography, gems and jewelry from Greek to Byzantine times, and magical amulets.
Abbreviations
Foreword
Shua Amorai-Stark and Shimon Ilani: Magical Gem Amulets from Caesarea Maritima: Intact' and Broken' Hematite Intaglios
Gideon Bohak: The Use of Engraved Gems and Rings in Ancient Jewish Magic
Véronique Dasen: One God May Hide Another: Magical Gems in a Cross-Cultural Context
Kirsten Dzwiza: Magical Signs: An Extraordinary Phenomenon or Just Business as Usual? Analysing Decoration Patterns on Magical Gems
Christopher a. Faraone: Magical Gems as Miniature Amuletic Statues
Felicity Harley-Mcgowan: Jesus the Magician? A Crucifi xion Amulet and its Date
Despina Ignatiadou: Two Magical Gems from the Roman Cemetery in Thessaloniki
Genevra Kornbluth: Pilulae and Bound Pendants: Roman and Merovingian Amulets
Sonia Macri`: The Gems of Greco-Roman Literature: Real Features and Symbolic Reconfiguration
Attilio Mastrocinque: Iconographies of Ialdabath
Simone Michel-Von Dungern: Vom Erhellen des Verdunkelten und Sichtbarmachen des unsichtbar Gedachten: Zur Ausstellung als Medium der Wissenschaftskommunikation
Árpád Mikloáls Nagy: Figuring out the Anguipes Gems, bis: A Statistical Overview
Maria Nilsson and John Ward: Mason or Priest? A Comparison between Graeco-Roman Signs on Magical Amulets and Symbols in Egyptian Quarries
Joachim Friedrich Quack: From Egyptian Traditions to Magical Gems: Possibilities andPitfalls in Scholarly Analysis
Vìra lancarovál and Daniela Urbanovál: Magical Gems from Collections in the Czech Republic
Jeffrey Spier: Solomon and Asmodaios on Greco-Roman Magical Amulets and Rings
Eleni Tsatsou: Uterine Amulets: Amulets that Protect the Uterus or that Reinforce Erotic Desire?
Paolo Vitellozzi: The Sword of Dardanos: New Thoughts on a Magical Gem in Perugia
Erika Zwierlein-Diehl: Dating Magical Gems
List of Contributors
Plates
Ceramografia singolare a Taranto nell’età di Archita
Image, Meaning, Function
Stato dell’arte sull’uso del glifosato e strategie alternative sostenibili 18 gennaio 2023 - Atti del seminario
Archeologia, topografia, urbanistica per la riqualificazione dello spazio urbano
Materiali di epoca romana
contextos, usos y miradas
Itinerari nel mondo della navigazione,tra storia, archeologia ed etnografia
Potere e orgoglio
