Lapis lazuli gem: Athena with figure (A) snake-legged figure (B)

PP-ID:

PP-5013

Classification:

gem, magical

Collection ID:

DE_Kassel-HKH_Ge 181

Collection:

Kassel, Antikensammlung, Hessen Kassel Heritage

Collection Inventory:

Ge 181

Reference Numbers:

Capello 1702, no. 92; AGD III, no. Kassel 181; Michel, DMG, no. 8.1_2

Former Collections:

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

Material:

lapis lazuli (blue)

Dimensions:

15.3 × 12 × 2.5 mm

Iconography:

Athena; helmet; spear; shield; armour; tunic; unidentified figure; greeting gesture; cock-headed figure?; whip?; object, unidentified

Divine Names & Voces:

voces, unidentified

Lapis lazuli gem. Side A is transverse oval, side B is upright oval. Both sides flat, matt and polished. (Shape 8–9). A crack runs diagonally across the upper side of the obverse. Chipping on both sides.

Side A: Two figures standing on two short baselines. On the left, Athena Promachos is shown in profile, facing right, wearing a helmet with a tall crest, an aegis and a chiton. She holds a spear in her raised right hand and a small shield in her left. On the right, a smaller, naked figure faces the goddess, raising his right hand in adoration. Greek inscription around the figures, arranged in two concentric circles: αναξ μαριναστ and ρυσ αναδ → ἄναξ 'lord' and unidentified voces.
Side B: Animal-headed (Zazoff: rooster) figure with one snake leg, shown frontally with the head in profile to the left, wearing a crown (?) and armour. He holds a staff (intended as a whip?) in his right hand and a small round object (shield?) in his left. Greek inscription in a semicircle around the lower part of the figure: reading from the right: στομα; from the left: σιρυν → στόμα 'mouth' and unidentified vox.

Selected bibliography
• Capello 1702 >>, pl. 15, no. 92 (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Montfaucon 1719 >>, vol. 2,2, 375, pl. 171D (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Zazoff, AGD III >>, 243, no. 181.
• Michel, DMG >>, no. 8.1_2.

Further resources on PP-5013
• Hessen Kassel Heritage Online
• Antiquitatum Thesaurus