Schwartz–Schwartz 1979, 29.

29. Schwartz

a: Two-headed dragon: snake head l., wearing crown of upper and lower Egypt, its tongue extended; hawk head r., wearing the same crown. On dragon’s back, winged scarab.

b: IAPBAΘ/AΓP (cut over a Λ or an A) AMM/HΦIBΛOX/ΛHMHW.

Rose quartz.

Delatte and Derchain 404, 405. Bonner (above, n. 6), no. 46 /CBd-498/. Inscription: Bonner 210 /CBd-1401/; Delatte and Derchain 294, 404.

Gems with similar two-headed dragons have been interpreted by Delatte and Derchain as representing the creation of the universe (pp. 281-82). In this interpretation the dragon symbolizes the primordial ocean. On one or the gems published by Delatte and Derchain (no. 404) there is a winged frog (a symbol of life) above the dragon; on the other (no. 405) it is an unidentified creature which sits on the monster's back. If Delatte and Derchain are correct, the winged scarab which appears on our no. 29 is most appropriate, since it symbolizes at the same time the newly created sun and its creator, Khepera. The conformation of the monster calls to mind the solar bark, as it appears on other amulets; see Braunschweig 189 for a representation of Harpocrates seated on a solar bark which has a dog’s or jackal's head at one end and a lion’s head at the other. Sijpesteijn⁶⁵ illustrates a gem showing a boat with a radiate human head at each end, one male and one female. Above the boat is a winged scarab on which rests an ouroboros containing the figure of Harpocrates seated on a lotus. Representations of the scarab in the solar bark appear as well in the mythological papyri (Piankoff and Rambova, pls. 5, 19, 29, 30).

It is interesting to note that our no. 29 and the gems published by Delatte and Derchain are all engraved on light-colored quartz.

⁶⁵ P. J. Sijpesteijn, “Magical and Semi-magical Gems in a Private Collectlon,” Bulletin van de Antieke Beschaving (Utrecht/Leiden, 1974), pp. 240-50, no. 12.