Serpentine prism: Figures, snake, Ἰάω

PP-ID:

PP-950

Classification:

prism; pendant

Collection ID:

UK-BM-BEP_EA56162

Collection:

London, British Museum

Collection Inventory:

EA56162

Reference Numbers:

Michel, BM, no. 591; Michel, DMG, no. 2.5.b_6; CBd, no. 950

Former Collections:

Praun, Paulus II. (1548-1616); Mertens-Schaaffhausen, Sibylle (Köln, 1797 – Rome, 1857); Eastwood, George (1819–1866)

Material:

serpentine (green to black)

Dimensions:

17 × 13 × 9 mm

Date:

5th–6th c. AD? (Michel)

Iconography:

figure with indistinct animal head; snake; female figure

Divine Names & Voces:

Ἰάω

Dark greenish-black serpentine pendant with a rectangular shape. Pierced lengthwise. Worn surface and damage to the writing on side D.

Side A: Animal-headed figure walking left, raising the left hand, torso shown frontally, the rest of the body in profile.
Side B: Snake crawling upwards, facing right.
Side C: Roughly engraved figure with raised arms; modius (?) on head. (On parallel pieces, it is a female figure in a long dress with a modius on her head.)
Side D: ιαω → Ἰάω.

Selected bibliography
• Michel, BM >>, 341, no. 591.; click here for the full-text excerpt.

Further resources on PP-950
• The British Museum Collection online

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Last modified:

2025.10.22 15:56:27

Permalink:

https://phoinixplatform.org/object/950

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