Two Unpublished Magical Amulets in Ankara

Year 2020, Volume: 20, 113 - 126, 25.11.2020

Melih Arslan Yavuz Yeğin Richard Gordon

https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.762359

Abstract

The recent synthesis of Roman-period amulets by C. A. Faraone has highlighted the signifi-cance of such artefacts in strategies of personal and group protection and healing throughout Greek and Roman antiquity. A specific group of such amulets, on semi-precious stones en-graved with images, intercultural words of power, and special signs, was created in late-Hellenistic Egypt, but spread into the eastern Mediterranean mainly in the Roman period. This paper publishes two such magical amulets, one in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and the other in the Erimtan Museum of Archaeology and Art, both in Ankara. The first car-ries a fine example of the cock-headed Anguipede figure on the obverse, and, on the reverse, three of the Judaic names of God most commonly found on amulets in this tradition. The sec-ond gem offers no iconography but an interesting Greek inscription, followed by three special signs, appealing to the goddess Gaia (Earth) to protect the wearer. The paper has two main aims: to contribute to the aim of completing the digital Campbell Bonner Magical Gems data-base, organised by Á.M. Nagy in Budapest, which has taken the study of these gems to a new level, and to make these amuletic gems better known in Turkey.

Keywords

Amulet, Magical Gems, Gaia, Roman Period, Anguipede

Ankara’dan Yayımlanmamış İki Sihirli Taş Amulet

Abstract

C. A. Faraone’nin muskalar üzerine son dönemlerde yaptığı çalışmalar bu tür eserlerin Yunan ve Roma Dönemlerinde hem kişileri hem de grupları çeşitli kötülüklere karşı korumadaki stratejik önemini işaret etmektedir. Yarı değerli taşlar üzerine kazılan ve kültürler arası güç gösterisini de vurgulama amacı taşıyan bu sihirli imgeler öncelikli olarak Geç Hellenistik dönem Mısırı’nda ortaya çıksa da asıl güçlü yayılımını Doğu Akdeniz dünyasında Roma Dönemi’nde kazanmıştır. Bu çalışmada biri Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi’nde diğeri ise Erimtan Arkeoloji ve Sanat Müzesi’nde yer alan iki sihirli amulet ele alınmaktadır. Birinci örneğin ön yüzünde literatürde horoz kafalı Anguipede olarak adlandırılan figürün iyi bir örneği bulunur. Aynı nesnenin arka yüzünde ise bu eserlerde sıklıkla karşılaşılan Yahudi tanrılarının üç ismi bulunur: “Iao, Sabao, Adonai”. İkinci amulet herhangi bir ikonografi sunmamakla birlikte içerik olarak ilginç bir Grekçe yazıta sahiptir: “Yeryüzü ve güneş (?), Chryseis’in dünyaya getirdiği Dion’u tüm tehlikeden korusunlar”. Söz konusu yazıt üç sihirli karakter ile sonlanmaktadır. Yazıt, tanrıça Gaia’nın bu nesneyi taşıyan kişiyi kötülüklerden korumasına vurgu yapmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın iki önemli sonucu bulunmaktadır. Bunlardan biri Arpad M. Nagy tarafından organize edilen Campbell Bonner Database’nin dijital veri tabanına önemli bir katkı sunmaktır. Çalışmanın diğer önemli sonucu ise söz konusu amuletlerin Türkiye’de daha fazla tanınmasına katkı sağlamaktır.

Keywords

Muska, Sihirli Taşlar, Roma Dönemi, Gaia, Anguipede

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