Bronze circular amulet with a perforation at the top (suspension hole). Intact.

Side A: Haloed Holy Rider attacking a female demon with a cross-terminated spear, her hands are bound. Below the horse, three charaktêres; above the horse’s head, a cross. Around the edge, a semicircular, garbled inscription in Greek letters, starting at the left: σ̣τυκτρ ..υλκα.. → unidentified voces.
Side B: To the left, possibly a representation of Mary, seated, with Jesus on her lap; a cross behind her back. To the right, a segmented cone with a cross inscribed within the circle. The conic structure is sometimes attested without the cross; it might represent the Golgotha (see, for instance, a silver ring bezel in the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris), or, alternatively, the root of Solomon, which was believed to have magical properties). In the upper register, centrally, a cross. Greek text runs around the edge: αγιοσαγιοσαγιοσχρι̣σ̣τεβ̣οηθιυγ → ἄγιος, ἄγιος, ἄγιος· Χρίστε βοήθι· ὑγ<ία>. ‘Holy, holy, holy. Christ, help! Health.’

J. Franek
w/ Phoinix-team, 2025

Selected bibliography
• Franek 2025 >>, 565, no. 283.

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