Carnelian gem: Demeter (A) two figures (B)

PP-ID:

PP-5034

Classification:

gem, magical

Collection ID:

DE_Kassel-HKH_Ge 49

Collection:

Kassel, Antikensammlung, Hessen Kassel Heritage

Collection Inventory:

Ge 49

Reference Numbers:

Capello 1702, no. 48; AGD III, no. Kassel 49

Former Collections:

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

Material:

carnelian, red to brown

Dimensions:

14.8 × 12 × 3.2 mm

Iconography:

Demeter; peplos; headband; stalks of grain (2); ant; figures, male (2); mantle; thunderbolt?; club?; Apollo?; laurel; branch

Divine Names & Voces:

Ἀβλαναθαναλβα, palindrome

Red carnelian gem. Upright oval; side A slightly convex, side B flat. (Shape 6). Polished, intact.

Side A: Demeter stands frontally on a short baseline, her head turned to the left. She wears a headband and a peplos. There is a bowl containing food (Zazoff: fruit?) in her raised right hand, and two ears of grain in her lowered left hand. A large ant crawls upwards beside her right leg.
Side B: Two figures stand frontally on a baseline, positioned on either side of a column, with their heads turned to the right. The figure on the left is bearded, he is nude, save for a mantle thrown over his arm. He holds an object (club? thunderbolt) in his right hand; his left hand touches the top of the column. The figure on the right, probably Apollo, stands with one leg crossed over the other. His right elbow rests on the column; the lowered left hand holds a laurel. He wears a headband, and a himation over his back. Greek inscription around the figures: αβλαναθαναλβα → Ἀβλαναθαναλβα-palindrome, clearly added after the figures had been engraved.
For a similar depiction of Apollo, see PP-1991.

Selected bibliography
• Capello 1702 >>, pl. 9, no. 48 (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Montfaucon 1719 >>, vol. 2,2, 366, pl. 161D (see Antiquitatum Thesaurus for details).
• Zazoff, AGD III >>, 208–209, no. 49.

Further resources on PP-5034
• Hessen Kassel Heritage Online
• Antiquitatum Thesaurus