Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 23. 1984-1985 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1987)
Közlemények – Mitteilungen - Kákosy László: A magical amulet from Pusztaszabolcs. p. 240–242.
Alba Regia, XXIII, 1987 L. KÁKOSY A MAGICAL AMULET FROM PUSZTASZABOLCS Magical gem stone. H. 17 mm, w. 12 mm. (Fig. 1—2). Description. On the obverse the oval engraved scene can be divided into two parts. The lower half is occupied by the figure of a vessel with upturned bottom. The mouth continues in an appendage consisting of perpendicular and slanting lines. It ends in a horizontal line. The strange vessel is a familiar symbol of the uterus. (See below). Beside and under the vessel the seven vowels of the Greek alphabet are engraved. The upper part contains four figures of gods. The jackal-headed figure with the body of a mummy is Anubis. Behind him a human figure whose identification remains doubtful. The religious context would suggest the young Horus or Hermes. The flat hat of the god which could be the petasos speaks more in favour of the latter. If really Hermes, his sceptre may be a carelessly engraved kerykeion. Hermes and Anubis were closely rela ted in Late-Egyptian religion and even came to bo amalgamate d as Hermanubis. Fig. 1 In the opposite pair of gods the second figure is Isis holding the cornucopia and with the uraeus-snakc on her head. The divinity before her, represented as a mummy, must be Osiris. The shape of the god would permit also an identification with Ptah; this latter is, however, very rarely depicted on magical gems. The frame enclosing the obverse scene is broken away in its upper part. Like on many other amulets, (SMA 1950, 250; Cf. Kákosy 1964), it was most probably an ouroboros, i.e. a serpent devouring its own tail. Outside this frame only three letters are well preserved on the margin: Before them uncertain traces : Reverse. Inscription in two lines (орсорюи&). Provenance: Pusztaszabolcs in the county Fejér, 1977. It was brought by the veterinarian Mr. István Gulyás into the István Király Museum in Székesfehérvár. Although the composition and symbolism of the piece makes at first an odd impression, its interpretation is beyond doubt. It belongs to the large group of medical amulets against women's diseases. {SMA 1950, 79—84; DELATTE-DERCHAIM 1964, 245—258). Serious difficulties were caused by the so-called vessel. It is a point of interest in the history of archeology that its true identification as uterus appears as early as in the year 1623. It was the famous art and manuscript collector, Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc who interpreted such an amulet in the correct way in a letter written to Peter Paul Rubens, the painter {SMA 1950, 80). Later on, as it frequently happens in scholarship, this idea was rejected in favour of plays of fancy. It was the merit of A. Delatte to adduce unmistakable evidence for the interpretation of the vessel as an uterus. (Delatte 1914) Inscription on some of the gems compel to accept this solution. {SMA 1950, 82). The slanting lines below the vessel are the ligaments holding the uterus in position. The crank handle with two knobs beside the uterus and the vertical lines under it have breen rightly interpreted as a symbolic key. {ibid., 85) One could suggest that the key is an element of black magic and intended to hinder the conception or delivery. The inscriptional evidence points, however, in another direction : it was hoped that the amulet with the key would cure mennorhagia {ibid., 88). Recovery from this grave disease (excess of bleeding at the menses) was unthinkable without divine help. The four divinities represented on the amulet in Székesfehérvár are closely linked with family life. As to Osiris and Isis, these ideas are too 16 Alba Regia XXIII 241
