Evidence ID
E01155
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed objects
Images and objects - Other portable objects (metalwork, ivory, etc.)
Literary - Magical texts and amulets
A bronze leaf, folded and enclosed in a silver tube. H. 0.082 m; W. 0.041 m. Found in a tomb, in the northern necropolis at Pamukkale (ancient Hierapolis).
Inscription:
ἐνορκίζομαί
σοι τὸν θεὸν τ̣ὸ-
ν κτίσαντα τὴν ̣γ-
4 ̣ῆν καὶ τοὺς οὐ-
ρανούς, ἐνορ-
κίζομαί σο-
ι τοὺς ἀγγέλο-
8 υς ̣Χερουβειν,
ἄνω ἁρμον-
ίαν, Μιχαήλ,
̣Ῥ̣α̣φαήλ, Ἀβ-
12 ρασαξ . . . [. .]
ἀποστραπῆναι ἀ̣π[ὸ]
̣τ̣ραυματίου
'I adjure you by God who founded the earth and the heavens, I adjure you by the angels, Cherubim, the harmony (above?), Michael, Raphael, Abrasax, [- - -] to be averted fro[m] injury.'
Text and translation: Aydaş 2004, no. 6.
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Miracles
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Saint as patron - of an individual
Magic
MiraclesExorcism
Cult Related ObjectsOther
Discussion
The inscription is a charm that was presumably used by its owner in life as an amulet protecting him/her from injuries. Lines 10-11 contain the names of Michael and Raphael the archangels, but Angelos Chaniotis and Ioannis Mylonopoulos doubt the purely Christian character of this text. This is because lines 11-12 contain a reference to Abrasax, a creature known from magical spells. They say that the charm could have been made by a Jewish or pagan (syncretistic) magician. The inscription was, nevertheless, conditionally included in the Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database by Ulrich Huttner.For the (ἐν)ορκίζω formula, see: E00798, E01296.
Bibliography
Edition:Aydaş, M., "New Inscriptions from Asia Minor", Epigraphica Anatolica 37 (2004), no. 6.
Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 930: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/930
Further reading:
Chaniotis, A., Mylonopoulos, J., "Epigraphic Bulletin for Greek Religion, 2004", Kernos 20 (2007), 245, no. 11.
Huttner, U., "Der Fluch des Apostels. Magie in den Philipusakten", in: L. Popko and others (eds.) Von Sklaven, Pächtern und Politikern. Beiträge zum Alltag in Ägypten, Griechenland und Rom. Δουλικὰ ἔργα zu Ehren von Rheinhold Scholl (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012), 25-26, note 45.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 54, 1344.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
26/02/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00181 | Michael, the Archangel | Μιχαήλ | Certain | S00481 | Raphael, the Archangel | Ῥαφαήλ | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01155 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01155