Magical pendant: Harpocrates, ibis, Chnoubis (A) Ἀβρασάξ (B)
Download PDF
CBd-Number:
CBd-102
ID-Number:
GB-Cambridge, Fitzwilliam_B 320 (CM)
Collection:
GB_Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum
Inventory:
B 320 (CM)
References:
Henig, Cambridge, no. 498; Michel, DMG, no. 19.4.f_1
Material:
serpentine (green to black)
Dimensions:
28 x 22 x 2.75 mm (lower face 26 x 19 mm)
Dating:
3th–4th c. AD (Henig)
Iconography:
Harpocrates seated with knees drawn up; animal: goats (2); crab?; cord; animal: crocodiles (3); bird: falcons (3); plant: lotus buds (2); bird: ibis, tied to an altar; rays, double; rays (5); Chnoubis, lion-headed; flail; gesture, hand raised to mouth; Harpocrates sitting on lotus flower; nimbus
Divine Names & Voces:
Ἀβρασάξ; Ἰάω
A: Harpocrates, to left, sitting on a lotus fl
ower with two buds, which is placed upon a tall altar (Henig: naos?). The right hand of Horus is raised to his mouth, the left hand holds a flail. To the left of the altar, an ibis, to left, tied to one of the lotus buds with a cord; to the right of the altar, the lion-headed Chnoubis, also to left, head surrounded with a nimbus and five double rays. Around Harpocrates, animals, from left ro right: three crocodiles, a falcon, a crab(?), two more falcons and two goats. Inscribed: ιαω?] → Ἰάω.
B: Inscription in two lines: α[- -]α|σαξ → Ἀβρασάξ.
Pierced at the top for suspension. A praxis known from a papyrus (PGM LXI 1-38) specifies that love charms had to be incised with the image of Horus on a lotus flower and the magical name Abraxas. Pieces with the Horus-scheme used as love charms: CBd-533, CBd-534, and this gem may also have been used as a love charm, although the representation of Chnoubis and the ibis tied to the altar suggests that it may also have had a digestive function.
Bibliography
Henig 1994, 225-26, no. 497.
Michel, DMG, 19.4.f_1
ower with two buds, which is placed upon a tall altar (Henig: naos?). The right hand of Horus is raised to his mouth, the left hand holds a flail. To the left of the altar, an ibis, to left, tied to one of the lotus buds with a cord; to the right of the altar, the lion-headed Chnoubis, also to left, head surrounded with a nimbus and five double rays. Around Harpocrates, animals, from left ro right: three crocodiles, a falcon, a crab(?), two more falcons and two goats. Inscribed: ιαω?] → Ἰάω. B: Inscription in two lines: α[- -]α|σαξ → Ἀβρασάξ.
Pierced at the top for suspension. A praxis known from a papyrus (PGM LXI 1-38) specifies that love charms had to be incised with the image of Horus on a lotus flower and the magical name Abraxas. Pieces with the Horus-scheme used as love charms: CBd-533, CBd-534, and this gem may also have been used as a love charm, although the representation of Chnoubis and the ibis tied to the altar suggests that it may also have had a digestive function.
Bibliography
Henig 1994, 225-26, no. 497.
Michel, DMG, 19.4.f_1
Last modified: 2016-02-05 11:02:39
Link:cbd.mfab.hu/cbd/102
CITE THIS PAGE
CBd-102. The Campbell Bonner Magical Gems Database (2010-), developed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, editor-in-chief: Á. M. Nagy.
Retrieved from: cbd.mfab.hu/cbd/102 on 09-03-2025.
Zoom
