UNCERTAIN EAST. 3rd-4th centuries. Gnostic Amulet (Silver, 47 mm, 13.66 g, 12 h). Abrasax, double-winged, nimbate and wearing a polos, standing facing, his hands terminating in four scorpions and his legs wrapped in lion skins, with the lions’ heads covering the knees; below his feet, two crocodiles facing in opposite directions; above, a multitude of Gnostic symbols; in lower left and right fields, KEΦ Μ ΚΕΛ / ΑΜΝΩ Ρ / ΧΘΗΧ / ΚΩΒΧ / ΖΟΚΟΤΟ / ΙΗΙ ΔΗ // ΝΝΗC ΧΗΡ / ΚⲰ ΧΟΙ ΧⲰΧ / ΑΚΡΙΞΑΝΟΥ / ΦΗΝ / ΑΒΩΝ / ΕΞ ΑΝΗ/ΛΙΕ. Rev. ΑΓΙΑ ΟΝΟΜΑΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΦΟ/ΒΕΡΟΙ ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡΕC ΦΥΛΑ/ΞΑΤΕ ΤΟΝ ΦΟΡΟΥΝΤΑ ΤΑCΔΕ / ΤΑC ΑΓΙΑΣ ΥΜⲰΝ ΔΥΝΑΜΙC ΑΠΟ / ΠΑΝΤΟC ΚΙΝΔΥΝΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΜΑΚΤΗΡΟC (?) / ΚΑΙ ΑΠΟ ΠΑCΗC ΑΝΘΡⲰΠΙΝΗC ΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΔΑΙ/ΜΟΝΙⲰΔΟΥC ΕΠΙΒΟΥΛΗC ΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΙ/ΤΗCΕⲰC ΚΑΙ ΑΠΟ ΠΑCΗC ΦΑΡΜΑΚΙΑC ΤΕ / ΚΑΙ ΓΟΗΤΙΑC ΚΑΙ ΑΡⲰΝ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΤΑΔΕCΜⲰΝ ΚΑΙ / ΚΑΤ ΑΝΑΓΙΑC ΚΑΙ ΘΕΟΧΟΛⲰCΙΑC ΔΕ ΚΑΙ ΠΑ/CΗC ΠΥΡΕΚΤΙΚΗC ΚΑΙ ΤΥΠΙΚΗC ΚΑΙ CΤΟ/ΜΑΧΙΚΗC ΝΟCΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΠΑCΗC ΑΛΛΗC ΑΛΓΗ/ΔΟΝΟC CⲰΜΑΤΙΚΗC ΚΑΙ ΨΥΧΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΙ / ΠΑΝΤΟΙΑC ΑΛΛΗC ΟΙΑCΔΗΠΟΤΟΥΝ / ΑΝΡⲰΠΙΝΗC ΒΛΑΒΗC ΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΙ/ΒΟΥΛΗC ΠΑΝΤΑ ΔΕ ΤΑ ΠΑΡ ΑΥΤⲰΝ ΜΗΧΑΝⲰΜΕΝΑ Η ΜΕΛΕΤⲰ/ΜΕΝΑ ΚΑΚΑ ΕΙC ΤΑC ΕΚΕΙ/ΝⲰΝ ΤΡΕΨΟΝ ΚΕ/ΦΑΛΑC ('Holy names and fearsome characters, guard the wearer of these holy powers of yours from every danger and from every affliction, from every human and daemonic plot and attack, from every kind of sorcery and witchcraft, from curses, binding spells and compulsions, and from divine wrath; guard him also from every febrile, periodic, and gastric disease, from every other pain of body and soul, and from every other kind whatsoever of human harm and hostile design; and turn all the evils contrived or contemplated by them back upon their own heads' in Greek) in twenty lines. Unpublished and unique. A wonderful, beautifully engraved and perfectly preserved gnostic amulet. Suspension loop missing and with patchy toning, otherwise, extremely fine.


So-called ‘Gnostic’ amulets are a diverse group of Late Antique magical objects, usually engraved with divine names, voces magicae (magical words), protective signs, and syncretic images combining elements drawn from Greek, Egyptian, Jewish, and other religious traditions. Worn on the body as personal phylakteria (protective amulets), they were intended to harness the power attributed to these sacred names, symbols, and images in order to protect their owner against illness, demons, hostile magic, accidents, and other dangers.

Our wonderful piece carries an extensive inscription on the reverse. The opening invocation to the ‘holy names’ and ‘fearsome characters’ belongs to a well-attested Late Antique amuletic idiom in which written divine names and non-alphabetic charaktêres were themselves understood as active agents of protection. The imperative ΦΥΛΑΞΑΤΕ, ‘guard!’, is particularly significant, since the inscription does not merely describe protection but performs it, addressing the engraved names and signs as forces whose very presence on the object was believed to be efficacious.

The unusually extensive catalogue of threats makes the piece a deliberately comprehensive phylactery, encompassing physical danger, hostile human action, demons, sorcery, curses, binding and coercive magic, and even divine anger. Its medical section is equally revealing: ΠΥΡΕΚΤΙΚΗ and ΤΥΠΙΚΗ ΝΟCΟC refer to febrile and recurrent or periodic illness, while CΤΟΜΑΧΙΚΗ ΝΟCΟC and ΑΛΓΗΔΩΝ extend its protection to gastric complaints and bodily pain, illustrating the close connection between healing and magic in Late Antiquity.

The pairing of human and daemonic hostility reflects a conceptual world in which disease, interpersonal aggression, magical attack, and supernatural agency were not necessarily regarded as separate causes of misfortune. Especially striking is the final reversal formula, which asks that all evils devised against the wearer be turned ‘upon their own heads’, so that the amulet was intended not merely to neutralize an attack but actively to redirect it against its originators.

On the obverse, the composite winged figure conventionally identified as Abrasax, together with the scorpions, lion skins, crocodiles, voces magicae, and numerous charaktêres, translates the same protective programme into visual form, allowing image, sacred names, and written command to reinforce one another. Modern scholarship is more cautious than older numismatic terminology in describing such objects simply as ‘Gnostic’, since Abrasax and comparable hybrid imagery occur throughout the wider magical culture of the Roman East and do not by themselves demonstrate adherence to a particular Gnostic school or community.

From a numismatic and material perspective, the large silver flan, densely engraved on both sides and originally equipped with a suspension loop, identifies the piece as an exceptional precious-metal pendant amulet rather than one of the far more common engraved magical gems. The result is an unusually explicit document of Late Antique ritual practice: a portable concentration of sacred names, symbols, images, and commands designed to surround its wearer continuously with protection against virtually every conceivable physical, magical, and supernatural threat.