Solomonica Magica: Solomon, Sisinnius, and the Holy Rider on Greek-Inscribed Amulets from Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-73526-2
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 201, 744 Seiten, Format (B × H): 163 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 1574 g

Reihe: Religions in the Graeco-Roman World

Solomonica Magica is the first comprehensive survey of ‘Solomonic’ or ‘Holy Rider’ amulets from the Mediterranean of Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium. Hundreds of magical gems, leaf-shaped pendants, circular medallions, and other apotropaic objects—many of which were previously unpublished—are presented against the backdrop of a parabiblical tradition involving Solomon the Magician and Sisinnius the Demon-Hunter. All Greek texts have received fresh critical editions and English translations. The text of the monograph is richly illustrated with over 700 images, many newly commissioned specifically for this volume.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Franek, Juraj

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte Religionen der Antike

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Part 1: Study and Commentary

1 Introduction & Status Quaestionis 1.1 From the Beginnings to the End of the Belle Époque (1685–1914) 1.2 Between the Two World Wars (1914–1945) 1.3 After the War (1945–2000) 1.4 The New Millennium (2000–2020)

2 Protagonists 2.1 Solomon, Master of Demons 2.2 Saint Sisinnius and the Child-Killing Demon 2.3 The Holy Rider: Retrospect and Prospect

3 Solomonic Magic in Practice 3.1 Magical Recipes and Handbooks 3.2 Solomon in Greek Magical Epigraphy 3.3 Solomon in Latin Magical Epigraphy 3.4 Solomon in Semitic Magical Epigraphy

4 Introducing the Corpus: Provenance, Dating, and Context 4.1 Archaeological Context and Provenance 4.2 Dating 4.3 Workshops, Vendors, Wearers, and Religious Identity in Late Antiquity

5 Magical Gems 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Materiality 5.3 Aniconic Gems 5.4 Holy Rider Prototype 5.5 Iconographic Variations and Additions 5.6 Textual Variations and Additions 5.7 Beyond the Prototype

6 Pendants 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Materiality 6.3 Holy Rider Prototype 6.4 Biblical Incipits 6.5 Iao Sabaoth and the Angels 6.6 The Much-Suffering Eye 6.7 Thirsty Bird 6.8 Animals, Genitals, and Apollonius of Tyana 6.9 Crucifixion 6.10 Holy Rider Pendants with Less Common Variations 6.11 Singular Designs 6.12 Whipping the Demon

7 Medallions 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Materiality 7.3 Iconography 7.4 Inscriptions 7.5 Singular Designs with the Rider 7.6 Singular Designs without the Rider 7.7 South Italian Group 7.8 The Embossed Group

8 Miscellanea and Middle Byzantine Revival 8.1 Rings 8.2 Armbands 8.3 Pilgrim Tokens, Stamps, Buttons and Amulets in Stone and Bone 8.4 Middle Byzantine Revival

Part 2: Corpus Solomonica Magica (SoMa)

Bibliography Editions Exhibition and Auction Catalogues Studies

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Juraj Franek, Ph.D. (1984), is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Classical Studies at the Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences. He is the author of Naturalism and Protectionism in the Study of Religions (Bloomsbury, 2020) and the principal author of Performative Adjuration Formula in Greek and Latin Inscriptions (Narr, 2025).