herbert-springmaus:A good luck charm.Originally this inscribed gold sheet would have been rolled up
herbert-springmaus:A good luck charm.Originally this inscribed gold sheet would have been rolled up and worn in a tube strung around the owner’s neck as a good luck charm or to ward off evil. The precious metal makes this a rare find with fewer than 70 gold lamella known in the entire Roman Empire and only the fourth one found in Britain, this example was discovered at Billingford in Norfolk. Unusually the inscription is written in both Greek and Latin and also contains magical symbols, the text reads:Iao, Abrasax. Ablanathanalba, give health and victory (to) Tiberius Clauidius Similis whom Herennia Marcelina bore’Iao and Abrasax are the Greek names for Gods and Ablanathanalba was a commonly used magical word much like abracadabra is today. The surname ‘Similis’ was common around the Rhine Valley in Germany and so the charm may have belonged to an immigrant from that region.Norfolk Museums Collections -- source link
#history#classical history#roman