New gold lamellae and amulet capsules from (Judaeo-Christian) graves at Juliopolis
JbAC 6465 (2021/2022) Seiten: 87-105
The present study examines two gold amulet capsules (unopened) and four gold sheets (lamellae), inscribed in Greek, that were recovered from rescue operations of gravefields at ancient Juliopolis (>IouliÏpoulic) in Bithynia. The finds which come from three separate Chamosoria (rock-carved cistern) tombs (118, 139, and 190) and one chamber tomb (138) from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE spotlight the Judaeo-Christian inscriptions addressed to the monotheistic God on each of the four unrolled gold ›scrolls‹, presented here as first editions. Based upon the absence of specified diseases and named persons on the gold tablets, as well as the remarkable invocation of Dionysus as Baccheus of Nysa alongside the Hebrew ABRAO¯ TH on the largest of the metal plaques, it is suggested here that these talismans, which were deposited with the dead, served as ›passports‹ for the deceased in the manner of the classical ›Orphic‹-Dionysian gold tablets. Inherent Jewish and Christian elements found on the sheets further bind the group of diverse finds to a common religio-magical textual milieu.
Melih Arslan / Roy Kotansky / Yavuz Yeğin