Anonymous, 6th-7th centuries. Amulet (Lead, 30 mm, 9.56 g), Seal of Solomon amulet. +CΦPAΓIC COΛOMOИOC BOHΘI TOV ΦOPOVN ('Seal of Solomon, help the wearer') In upper register: cross within circle on Mount Golgotha (?) between facing busts of the Sun and Moon, each holding torch; in lower register: lion springing right with star above and serpent below.
Rev. +CΦЄVΓE MЄNICIMЄNI COVOMON CI ΔIOK ('Flee, detested one, Solomon pursues thee!') King Solomon on horseback to right, spearing female demon with a cruciform spear; to upper right, star. Cf. T. Matantseva: Les amulettes byzantines contre le Mauvais Oeil du Cabinet des Médailles, in: Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum 37 (1994), p. 110-121 (for bronze amulets with parallel legends). Apparently unpublished. An exceptionally well preserved early Byzantine magical amulet with clear legends and devices. Good very fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
'Holy Rider' imagery appears on a large and heterogeneous group of mostly haematite, bronze and lead amulets. Their date is debated, but most objects appear to originate from the 5th and 6th centuries. On the gems, the Holy Rider is usually named 'Solomon' in allusion to the Late Antique tradition of King Solomon as a master of demons.
