Talismans - Magical(?) gem: Scorpion with human head holding snakes (A) characteres (B)

Magical(?) gem: Scorpion with human head holding snakes (A) characteres (B)

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CBd-Number:

CBd-722

ID-Number:

GB-BM-MMEu_G 396, EA 56396

Collection:

GB_London, The British Museum

Inventory:

G 396 (EA 56396)

References:

Bonner 1951, no. 39; Michel, BM, no. 345; Michel, DMG, no. 51.2

Former Collections:

Towneley Collection

Material:

jasper, green and red

Dimensions:

17 x 11 x 3 mm

Dating:

2nd–3rd c. AD (Michel)

Iconography:

scorpion, human-headed; snakes (2); crown, Isis-

A: Human-headed scorpion-figure standing on thin insect legs, and holding onto two snakes coiling vertically upwards, tails touching, heads turned outwards. The scorpion figure’s probably female head is crowned with the cow’s horns and the solar disk (Isis-crown).
B. Three letters or characteres (probably post-antique).

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According to S. Michel, the representation on the obverse is probably influenced by the Egyptian hieroglyph for Qjs (man holding necks of animals), but is also connected with the figure of the scorpion goddess, Selket (goddess with a scorpion on her head or scorpion with the head and arms of a woman), while recalling the decans list of Hermes Trismegistos (second decan of Scorpion). See below.

Bibliography
Bonner 1951 on CBd-722
Michel, BM on CBd-722
The British Museum Collection database on CBd-722

Images
Cast of CBd-722 in the Gems Database of the Beazley Archive, Oxford

Last modified: 2019-10-28 15:29:28

Link:cbd.mfab.hu/cbd/722

CITE THIS PAGE

CBd-722. 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/722 on 07-02-2025.