Heliotrope gem: Anguipes, male figure, baboon (A) Greek inscription (B)

PP-ID:

PP-4990

Classification:

gem, magical

Collection ID:

DE_Kassel_Ge 129

Collection:

Kassel, Antikensammlung, Hessen Kassel Heritage

Collection Inventory:

Ge 129

Reference Numbers:

Capello 1702, no. 153; Michel, DMG, no. 3.A.3.h_6; AGD III, no. Kassel 129

Former Collections:

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

Material:

jasper, green and red

Dimensions:

16.2 × 11.1 × 2.1 mm

Iconography:

Anguipes, cock-headed; armour; shield; whip; male figure; cap; tunic; mantle; lying posture; stalks of grain (2); baboon; orant / greeting gesture

Divine Names & Voces:

Ἀβρασάξ; Ἰάω; Σαβαώθ

Greed, red and brown jasper (heliotrope). Side A upright oval, side B transverse oval, side A very lightly convex, side B flat. (Shape 6). Damage along the rim and the bottom of side A; side B has a vertical crack.

Side A: Frontal view of a cock-headed Anguipes in armour. Right hand holding a whip, left hand holding a round shield, porpax and antilabe visible. Below the Anguipes, a male figure wearing armour, his left hand outstretched and holding two ears of grain. He leans backwards on his right arm. Baseline below (?). Behind the figure, a baboon with paws raised in greeting.
Side B: Greek inscription in three lines: ιαω | αβρασαξ | σαβαωθ → Ἰάω Ἄβρασαξ Σαβαώθ.

Selected bibliography
• Capello 1702 >>, pl. 25, no. 153 (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Montfaucon 1719 >>, vol. 2,2, 360, pl. 148C (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Zazoff, AGD III >>, 227–228, no. 129.
• Michel, DMG >>, no. 3.A.3.h_6.

Further resources on PP-4990
• Hessen Kassel Heritage Online
• Antiquitatum Thesaurus