Abstract
A copper plaque purchased in the 19th century in Egypt is engraved on both sides with six images, all but one encircled by Greek letters or symbols. Because these designs are frequently found on magical gems of the Roman period, it has been suggested in passing that the plaque is a composite amulet of sorts, but I argue instead that it is a “pattern-book” originally designed to be hung on the wall of a studio in order to remind an artisan how to make curative amulets for eye-disease and other problems or protective talismans for driving away noxious animals. At some point in their transmission these designs seem to have been altered by someone who suppressed some of the more obvious pagan details (e.g. animal-headed gods) and added Christian motifs — i.e. Horus treading on the crocodiles becomes Christ treading on a lion and a snake, as he does in Psalm 90.14. The plaque in the Louvre is an early medieval version of this pattern book: the Arabic inscription in the top left corner of the obverse suggests that it was manufactured in the 8th or 9th century CE.
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