Black jasper gem: Anguipes (A) Abrasax (B)

PP-ID:

PP-1621

Classification:

gem, magical

Collection ID:

DE_Kassel-HKH_Ge 128

Collection:

Kassel, Antikensammlung, Hessen Kassel Heritage

Collection Inventory:

Ge 128

Reference Numbers:

Capello 1702, no. 144; AGD III, no. Kassel 128; Michel 2001, no. 59; Michel, DMG, no. 3.A.2.c_1

Former Collections:

Patin, Charles (Paris, 1633 – Padua, 1693); Capello, Antonio (Venice, 1652–1729); Karl, Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel (Kassel, 1654–1730)

Material:

jasper, green to black

Dimensions:

18.1 × 13.2 × 3.1 mm

Iconography:

Anguipes, cock-headed; armour; shield with Ἰάω; whip

Divine Names & Voces:

Ἀβρασάξ; Ἰάω

Side A upright oval, side B transverse oval, both sides flat. (Shape 8–9). Chipped in several places around the edge. The damage suggests that the gem may have been pried out of a setting.

Side A: Frontal view of the cock-headed Anguipes in armour. Right hand holding a whip, left hand, a shield. Around the figure, seven eight-pointed stars. In the shield, writing in two lines: ια|ω → Ἰάω.
Side B: Inscription in two lines: αβρα|σαξ → Ἀβρασάξ.

Selected bibliography
• Capello 1702 >>, pl. 23, no. 144 (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Montfaucon 1719 >>, vol. 2,2, pl. 148A (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Zazoff, AGD III >>, 227, no. 128.
• Michel 2001 >>, 62, no. 59; click here for the full-text excerpt.