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Document Details : Title: A Hexagonal Aquamarine Gem with New Hermeneutical Glosses Author(s): KOTANSKY, Roy D. Journal: Le Muséon Volume: 135 Issue: 3-4 Date: 2022 Pages: 285-322 DOI: 10.2143/MUS.135.3.3291197 Abstract : A rare aquamarine hexagonal prism, of unknown provenance, preserves on its six faces portions of apparent magical words and names, ending with a legible prayer in Greek, 'Holy Power, help me!' A closer examination of the formulas shows that the pristinely engraved letters preserve fragments of a bilingual (or trilingual) lexicon, giving 'translations' (hermēneiai) of Greek terms in Hebrew (and Aramaic). Marginal scribal glosses (also in Aramaic or Graeco-Aramaic) have also been inadvertently incorporated back into the text. The transcription was formerly duplicated from a papyrus manuscript Vorlage without fully understanding the textual content of the original model. Although the bead came from India, the gem itself was probably engraved in Egypt, based upon analogies with a related obsidian gem, recently published, and from the Graeco-Jewish linguistic milieu of late Hellenistic Alexandria. |
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