Bronze pendant: Holy Rider, Greek text (A) Greek text (B)
Bronze, leaf-shaped amulet with a dedicated suspension loop at the top, inscribed on both sides. Heavily worn, damaged surface.
Side A: An engraving of the Holy Rider, nimbate, spearing a female demon trampled under the hooves of his horse. The lower body of the demon is represented as a coiled, worm-like protrusion. In the upper register, semicircular Greek text: εισθεοσονικοντακακα → εἷς θεὸς ὁ νικῶν τὰ κακά. ‘One God conquering evil’. In the lower register, beneath the rider and above the demon, inscription in two lines, of which only the second can be safely taken as Greek letters: ιαω|θυ → Ἰάω; reading Ἰάωθ (for Ἰάω) is also possible (and safely attested on other pendants of the Holy Rider series).
Side B: At the top, faint traces of the Greek word πιν[.] → πίν[ω]. ‘I drink’. Below, three plant stems and a horizontal line underneath; on the right, possible traces of the top of an ibis and a cord. The remnants of the image probably correspond to a well-known schema depicting an ibis and a snake in its beak, tied to an altar by a cord. (There may be letters below the word πίνω.)
J. Franek
w/ Phoinix-team, 2025
Selected bibliography
• Franek 2025 >>, no. 238.
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