Articles

A gold lamella for ‘Blessed’ Abalala

Published:
2020-07-08
Author
View
Keywords
How To Cite
Selected Style: APA
Kotansky, R. D. (2020). A gold lamella for ‘Blessed’ Abalala. Acta Classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis, 52(1), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.22315/ACD/2016/1
Abstract

This article examines a previously unpublished gold lamella of unknown provenance, datable on palaeographical grounds to the 1st century BCE, give-or-take a half century, either side. The tablet preserves three words written in Greek letters that may contain a GrecoPersian formula of protection in the afterlife for its bearer, Abalala, a name of pre-Islamic extraction. The study compares the formula with those on a number of shorter ‘Orphic’ gold lamellae to show that the tiny piece represents a ‘Totenpaß’ for the beneficent dead, rather than a protective charm (phylactery) with the usual voces magicae, although the distinction between magic words and meaningful text is not always clear in such instances.