LOT 0171

Byzantine Hematite Inscribed Gemstone with Figure

6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

1 in. (10.2 grams, 27 mm).

Ellipsoid in plan with chamfered edge; standing nimbate figure in ankle-length robe extending one hand in blessing above a crawling supplicant; extensive Greek text transcribed as: ''ΚΕ Η ΓVNΙ / ΙΛ ΡVCΕΙ Ε / ΛTΟΣ ΕΤΙ / ΚΕ ΠΟΛΑ / ΝΙCΛ ΜΙ / Ν ωFΕΛΕ / ΛΑΑΜ / ΕΡ / ΗΛ / Λ / ΜΟVCΑ ' and 'A / ΛF / O / ΛΛ'.…'[καὶ γυνὴ οὗσα ἐν ῥύσει αἵματος δώδεκα ἔτη καὶ πολλὰ παθοῦσα ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἰατρῶν καὶ δαπανήσασα τὰ παρ᾽ αὐτῆς πάντα καὶ μηδὲν ὠφεληθεῖσα ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εἰς τὸ χεῖρον ἐλθοῦσα…'

UK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Cf. similar amulet in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, item 17.190.491.

The scene and surrounding text refers to the miracle concerning the woman with the issue of blood; the Greek text is abbreviated from Mark 5, 25-34: 'And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, 'If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.' And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my garments?' And his disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?' And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.'