C. Bonner, Amulets Chiefly in the British Museum, Hesperia 20, 1951, 301-345, no. 22.
Obv. At l., Imhotep Asklepios standing to front, his shaven head to r. He wears a long ankle length tunic (though the torso looks as if it were nude), and an upper garment wound round his l. arm and hips. The l. hand is slightly extended, the r. rests upon a staff round which a snake twines. At r. facing him, Hygieia to front, head to l., in tunic and mantle wound round waist and thighs. Her l. hand holds the tail of a snake which passes upward behind her back and holds its head over a cup in her r. hand.
Rev. Lion headed Chnoubis serpent to l., head encircled with nimbus from which seven double rays project. In field at l., the usual symbol, at r., XNOVMEω , below, two stars and ΑΒΡΑCΑΣ.
Agate. Upright oval, 24 x 18. Flat on both sides; no bevel.
The god's shaven head shows that Asklepios is identified with Imhotep, the wise vizier of King Zoser, who was regarded as the patron of physicians and in late dynastic times was deified as a god of healing. See Erman,
Religion der Ägypter, pp. 326, 395, 415; W. A. Jayne,
The Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations, pp. 62 64, and the plate opposite p 32; E. J. and L. Edelstein,
Asclepius, II, p. 79, note 9; p. 252.
For other representations of Asklepios and Hygieia, see Walters, pl. 22, 1689; Furtwängler,
Beschreibung, pl. 24, 2679; Le Blant,
750 Inscriptions de pierres gravées (Mém. Acad. Inscr. 36), pl. 1, 209; King,
Antique Gems and Rings, copperplates, first group, 4, 42.