DOI Artikel:
Śliwa, Joachim: Three magical gems with representations of Chnoubis from the collection of Konstanty Schmidt-Ciążyński
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21230#0028
a symbol of Zeus;
an Old Babylonian symbol of God;
frequently referred to as the "Chnoubis sign";
the last of these signs is derived from Semitic epigraphy, in which it is
used as a mark for denoting God (in Greek, Old Babylonian, and Judeo-
Aramaic regions) .9 But the origin of the Chnoubis sign can also be traced
back to Egyptian images of decans, denoting three rearing snakes crossed
by another lying horizontally.10
The Cracow artifacts described below constitute interesting and im-
portant materials for research on the entire group; on the basis of com-
parisons with artifacts from other collections, they can be dated only in
very broad terms, to the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D.
1. Inv. No. MNK IV-Zł-1869
IZ
*z_
-o
///
Chalcedony. Oval shape, both faces fiat, edge cut at an angle. Dimen-
sions 18.2 x 13.5 x 3.5 mm. State of preservation: good, slight damage on
the edge. Workmanship fairly careful.
Side A: in the center of the field, Chnoubis as a serpent with leonine
head, aureole of ten rays, head facing left. Inscription beneath the ser-
pent^ coil: CEMECIAAM (Hebr. "Etcrnal sim").11 On left and right:
ANOX XNOYMIC (ANOX = "I" and "I am" in Coptic).12
9 A. Barb, review of Delatte and Derchain, Gnomon 41 (1969), 302.
10 See L. Kakosy, "Decans in Late Egyptian Religion", Oikumene 3 (1982), 163-191.
11 PGM IV.591; Vn.403, 646, and passim; Bonner, pp. 58-59.
12 Bonner, p. 59; A. Barb, "Abraxas-Studien", in Hommages W. Deonna, Coli. Latomus 28
(Brussels, 1957), 73-76.
28
an Old Babylonian symbol of God;
frequently referred to as the "Chnoubis sign";
the last of these signs is derived from Semitic epigraphy, in which it is
used as a mark for denoting God (in Greek, Old Babylonian, and Judeo-
Aramaic regions) .9 But the origin of the Chnoubis sign can also be traced
back to Egyptian images of decans, denoting three rearing snakes crossed
by another lying horizontally.10
The Cracow artifacts described below constitute interesting and im-
portant materials for research on the entire group; on the basis of com-
parisons with artifacts from other collections, they can be dated only in
very broad terms, to the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D.
1. Inv. No. MNK IV-Zł-1869
IZ
*z_
-o
///
Chalcedony. Oval shape, both faces fiat, edge cut at an angle. Dimen-
sions 18.2 x 13.5 x 3.5 mm. State of preservation: good, slight damage on
the edge. Workmanship fairly careful.
Side A: in the center of the field, Chnoubis as a serpent with leonine
head, aureole of ten rays, head facing left. Inscription beneath the ser-
pent^ coil: CEMECIAAM (Hebr. "Etcrnal sim").11 On left and right:
ANOX XNOYMIC (ANOX = "I" and "I am" in Coptic).12
9 A. Barb, review of Delatte and Derchain, Gnomon 41 (1969), 302.
10 See L. Kakosy, "Decans in Late Egyptian Religion", Oikumene 3 (1982), 163-191.
11 PGM IV.591; Vn.403, 646, and passim; Bonner, pp. 58-59.
12 Bonner, p. 59; A. Barb, "Abraxas-Studien", in Hommages W. Deonna, Coli. Latomus 28
(Brussels, 1957), 73-76.
28