On view
European Art
Amulet with Holy Rider,
6th–7th century CE
Byzantine
Early Byzantine, ca. 330–842
y1931-34
Pilgrimage and Portable Objects
These small, portable objects speak to the movement of people across expansive geographies over many centuries. Reliquaries and ampullae, or small flasks, contained physical reminders of pilgrimages to holy sites. Medallions, tokens, and amulets warded off perils on these arduous journeys and served as mementos of them.
Objects of personal adornment traveled with their wearers, but their materials also could connote distant places. Garnet, for example, came to Europe primarily via long-distance trade routes with South Asia, and glass imitating garnet was often made in Egypt and imported to Europe.
Information
Title
Amulet with Holy Rider
Dates
6th–7th century CE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
h. 6.1 cm., w. 3.0 cm. (2 3/8 x 1 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Object Number
y1931-34
Place Made
Syria-Palestine or Egypt
Inscription
Etched in an arc on the obverse: ειϲθεοϲονιϰωνταϰα
Transcription: εἷς θεὸς ὁ νικῶν τὰ κα<κά>
Translation: One God conquering evil.
Etched top center on the reverse: ιαωθ | ϲαβαωθ
Transcription: Ἰάω{θ}, Σαβαώθ
Translation: Iao, Sabaoth.
Culture
Period
Purchased by the Museum from John Khayat in 1931.
- Henri Seyrig, "Individae Medici," Berytus 1 (1934)., p. 1ff
- Dorothy Eugenia Miner, Early Christian and Byzantine art: an exhibition held at The Baltimore Museum of Art, (Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1947)., p. 139, no. 709; pl. 51
- Slobodan Curcic and Archer St. Clair, Byzantium at Princeton: Byzantine art and archaeology at Princeton University: catalogue of an exhibition at Firestone Library, Princeton University, August 1 through October 26, 1986, (Princeton, NJ: Dept. of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton University Library, Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections, 1986)., no. 171; p. 145
- Susan Heuck Allen, Survival of the gods: classical mythology in Medieval art, (Providence, RI: David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, 1987)., p. 135, fig. 38
- Ioli Kalavrezou, Angeliki E. Laiou, et al., Byzantine women and their world, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003)., p. 86-87; cat. no. 28
