Anonymous, 6th-7th centuries. Amulet (Lead, 22 mm, 4.05 g, 12 h), Seal of Solomon amulet. In upper register: cross within circle on Mount Golgotha (?) between facing busts of Sun and Moon; in lower register: lion springing left with serpent below.
Rev. CΦPAΓ/IC COΛO/MOC BO ('Seal of Solomon, help') in three lines between horizontal lines; above, cross; below, cross and curved decoration. Cf. Bonner, Studies in Magical Amulets, no. 326 (lead amulet with same obverse imagery). Minor flan crack
, otherwise, very fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
According to the Testament of Solomon, an Old Testament pseudepigraphical work dated to the 1st-5th centuries AD, King Solomon received the 'Seal of God', a magical ring, from the Archangel Michael, allowing him to command demons, thus enabling him to build the Temple in Jerusalem. The phrases 'Seal of God' and 'Seal of Solomon', and invocations of Solomon as a guardian against demons, are found on numerous magical artifacts from Late Antiquity and in magical papyri.
