Jesus in ancient pagan magic: the Anna Perenna drawings

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1 Jesus in ancient pagan magic: the Anna Perenna drawings György Németh ELTE University, Budapest Six lead containers found in the fountain of Anna Perenna are decorated with the image of a long-nosed, rotund demon. A well-known magical palindrome (a string of sounds that can be read the same way in either direction) is inscribed on the left of the demon: αβλαναθαναλβα (ablanathanalba). On the right side of the demon, there is a magic symbol, a so-called charaktêr, which is an X-shaped sign with little loops on all four ends. The following three lines are inscribed onto the belly of the creature: ΙΧΝΟΠ / ΧΝΚΘ /. The inscription is undoubtedly abbreviated. Since the name of Christ is mentioned in a curse tablet from the same fountain in the form CRISTOS, we might not be mistaken to assume that ΙΧΝ stands for Jesus Christ of Nazareth. KEYWORDS: ANNA PERENNA, JESUS CHRIST, LEAD CONTAINER Inscriptions of the lead containers The fountain of Anna Perenna and her Nymphs was discovered in October 1999 at Piazza Euclide in northern Rome. The excavation was conducted by Marina Piranomonte. 1 The finds of the site include 524 coins, 26 curse-tablets, 24 cylindrical containers and three terracotta jars. On the surface of six containers there is an image of a bird-headed demon, whose body has been enlarged to carry some meaningless Greek letters. The depicted demon is not Abrasax or Iao as claimed in the first editions. 2 The so-called Abrasax is an anguiped (snake-legged creature), but the Roman demon has human feet. In its right hand the anguiped grasps a club or a whip, and in his left there is a round or oval shield, but the Roman demon never holds a shield. There are several bird-headed demons on curse-tablets in Rome (DTAud 141; 167) and in Carthage (260), and their numbers are augmented by the drawings of the Roman lead containers, which are consequently not representations of the anguiped often referred to as Abrasax in literature. 3 The palindrome ABΛANAΘANAΛBA (or a variant of it) can be read next to the head of the bird-headed demon, and a string of letters (with occasionally changing elements) is inscribed on its belly. 4 1 For an overview on the excavations and the finds, see the study of Marina Piranomonte in this volume. For a previous treatment of the subject, see Piranomonte 2010, Abrasax: Blänsdorf 2010, 217; Blänsdorf, Piranomonte 2012, ; Iao: Piranomonte 2010, Nagy 2002, , argues against identification with Abrasax. It cannot be proved that the anguiped was called Abrasax or Iao since these names are not always inscribed next to the snake-legged demon. There are 85 anguiped representations registered in the Campbell Bonner Magical Gems Database (Budapest), and only two of them include the name Abrasax (or a variant of it). The name Abrasax is found 17 times on gems but only twice next to the anguiped. hu/talismans/object/search?voces=107. Downloaded The palindrome Ἀβλαναθαναλβα is found together with the angui- The letter string comes up in the following form on the six containers: No. Inv IXNOΠ No. Inv C No. Inv No. Inv C Θ Θ No. Inv No. Inv B IXNIX NKΘ 5 LE ONTI US ped in only four instances: search?scheme=489&voces=58. Downloaded However, the number of occurrences of Ἀβλαναθαναλβα and Abrasax together is Downloaded In the former edition of Piranomonte 2010, 209: Line 1: I X N ΠOX, Line 2: X N K Θ Θ Θ. In the former edition of Blänsdorf 2010, 232: On the body some charakteres: a) I X N I X, b) U K E Θ Θ (majuscule letters, the last two are Greek thetas). 43

2 Figure 1. The bird-headed demon with the IXNOΠ-inscription, No. Inv Figure 2. The bird-headed demon with the -inscription, No. Inv

3 G. Németh: Jesus in ancient pagan magic: the Anna Perenna drawings Leontius is apparently the victim of the defixio. Apart from the layout of the lines, the only variation is the fifth (or once the fourth and the fifth) letter of the first line, since IXNO is followed by Y in four instances, and once by Π, whereas the string IXN is once completed by IX. The inscription is undoubtedly abbreviated. Since the name of Christ is mentioned in a curse tablet from the same fountain in the form CRISTOS, 6 we might not be mistaken to assume that ΙΧΝ stands for Jesus Christ of Nazareth: I = ΙΗΣΟΥΣ X = ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ N = ΝΑΖΩΡΑΙΟΣ 7 Applying the same logic, we can interpret the rest of the letters as well. : Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Ναζωραῖος ὁ υἱός, Χριστὸς Ναζωραῖος καὶ θεὸς, θεὸς, θεός. Jesus Christ of Nazareth the son, Christ of Nazareth, and God, God, God. The seemingly uncommon ὁ υἱός without a postposed genitive is not known in the New Testament, however, it is often attested in literary texts of the early imperial era. 8 The second variation is semantically equivalent with the first one. IXNOΠ : Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Ναζωραῖος ὁ παῖς, Χριστὸς Ναζωραῖος καὶ θεὸς, θεὸς, θεός. Jesus Christ of Nazareth the child, Christ of Nazareth, and God, God, God. 6 Inv : [roga-] / mus cras deas vest[ra]s / et Cristum nostr[um]. Reading of Jürgen Blänsdorf. 7 The Acts of Apostles refers to Christ as Jesus Christ of Nazareth twice (3:6; 4:10). 8 I refer to only two examples. Diogenes Laertius: Vitae philosophorum 5, 57: τὴν δ ἑτέραν ἔλαβεν Ἀδείμαντος, ἀπήνεγκε δὲ Ἀνδροσθένης ὁ υἱός. The third copy was received by Adeimantus, the bearer being Androsthenes junior. Plutarch: Agesilaus 13, 1: Ἀπιόντος δὲ τοῦ Φαρναβάζου μετὰ τῶν φίλων, ὁ υἱὸς ὑπολειφθεὶς προσέδραμε τῷ Ἀγησιλάῳ καὶ μειδιῶν εἶπεν. Pharnabazus being gone off, his son, staying behind, ran up to Agesilaus, and smilingly said Jesus as ὁ παῖς without a postposed genitive occurs in the Gospel of Luke (2:43): καὶ τελειωσάντων τὰς ἡμέρας, ἐν τῷ ὑποστρέφειν αὐτοὺς ὑπέμεινεν Ἰησοῦς ὁ παῖς ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ... And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem The inscription with the variation in the two final letters can equally be interpreted in the same ideological scheme. IXNIX NKΘ: Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Ναζωραῖος, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Ναζωραῖος καὶ θεὸς, θεὸς, θεός. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and God, God, God. Logical as it may seem, this interpretation cannot be confirmed by irrefutable evidence. However, it is possible to support it with relevant arguments if we can clarify three fundamental issues: 1) What was the role of abbreviations in early Christian literature? 2) Did early Christian literature employ acrophonic abbreviations (like ), and for what purpose were they applied? 3) Can we attest inscriptions that could serve as a model for an obviously non-christian sorcerer in Rome? What was the role of abbreviations in early Christian literature? Regular abbreviations (especially of so-called sacred names) had a prominent role in early Christian literature perhaps following a tradition in Judaism. The name of Jesus Christ, for example, is always presented in an abbreviated form in the Codex Sinaiticus, the earliest (more or less) complete Greek Bible. The excellent book of Bruce Metzger is a true repertory of such abbreviations (Metzger 1981, 30, 36 37): ΘΣ Θεός God, ΙΣ Ιησοῦς Jesus, ΧΣ Χριστός Christ, ΣΗΡ σωτήρ Savior, ΚΣ Κύριος Lord, ΥΣ υἰός Son, ΣΤΣ σταυρός Cross. Though this list might convincingly argue that abbreviating sacred names was a daily routine in early Christian literacy, the structure of these abbreviations is different from the acrophonic method applied in the case of. The biblical abbreviations are built up from the first and the 45

4 The Wisdom of Thoth Magical Texts in Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations the last letter of the word, and longer words even tend to contain another letter from within the word (ΣΗΡ σωτήρ; ΣΤΣ σταυρός). Consequently, biblical abbreviations themselves do not prove the existence of acrophonic Christian abbreviations. -like acrophonic abbreviations in early Christian literature Compounding acronyms from the first letter of each contained word is called acrophonic abbreviation. The most common example of this method is ΙΧΘΥΣ, which is found both in inscriptions and in early Christian literature. The funerary stele of Licinia Amias is one of the most ancient Christian inscriptions, found in the area of the Vatican necropolis in Rome. 9 Two fish and an anchor are depicted on the stone. The bilingual inscription written in Greek and Latin reads: DM ἰχθὺς ζώντων Liciniae Amiati bene merenti vixit To the Di Manes, the fish of the living, for Licinia Amias, who well deserves it. She lived... The explanation of ἰχθύς is given among others by Augustine in his De civitate Dei where he notes if you join the initial letters of these five Greek words, Ιησοῦς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ υἰὸς σωτήρ, which mean,»jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour«, they will make the word ἰχθύς, that is,»fish«, in which word Christ is mystically understood. 10 Beside ἰχθύς, another common Christian abbreviation is also found in an inscription from Edessa (Feissel 1983, doc. 25): κ(αὶ) Θεωδού<λ>ις παρθένου. ΙΧΘΥΣ ΧΜΓ Α Ω μημόρια δύο The emphatic position of the three crosses in the middle of the inscription, the alpha and the omega, 11 and 9 Terme di Diocleziano inv Marble, early 3rd century CE. 10 Horum autem Graecorum quinque uerborum, quae sunt Iesous Chreistos Theou yios soter, quod est Latine Iesus Christus Dei filius saluator, si primas litteras iungas, erit ἰχθύς, id est piscis, in quo nomine mystice intellegitur Christus, Augustine: De civitate Dei 18:23. Translated by M. Dods. 11 Rev. 1:8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. the presence of ἰχθύς prove that the funerary stele of the virgin Theodule is a Christian monument. ΧΜΓ is most probably also a Christian symbol in an acrophonic abbreviation, but its interpretation is disputed. 12 XMΓ is a common abbreviation in documents and religious texts from the 4 th to the 7 th century. It appears in several magical texts (Daniel, Maltomini 1992, 56). The following list includes some suggested solutions for the abbreviation: Χριστὸν Μαρία γεννᾷ = Mary gives birth to Christ; Χριστὸς μάρτυς γένηται = Christ became a martyr; χειρός μου γραφή = written with my own hand; Χριστός, Μιχαήλ, Γαβριήλ = Christ, Michael, Gabriel; Χριστὸς μέλλει γεννᾶσθαι = Christ is being born; χαρὰ μεγάλη γέγονεν = there was great delight. 13 Another interpretation of χμγ, however, understands it as an isopsephy to θβ, which seems to signify θεὸς βοηθός, that is God Helper. 14 No less than 14 Greco-Egyptian Christian inscriptions contain this abbreviation in the collection of Lefèbvre; still, only two of them can be dated properly: no. 5 is from 537, no. 9 from 570. Georgina Robinson pointed out that KMΓ and ΘΜΓ could be used alternately with XMΓ, which means that the authors of the inscriptions interpreted each form of the abbreviations as Χριστὸν Μαρία γεννᾷ, because (Robinson 1986, ): KMΓ Κύριον Μαρία γεννᾷ: Mary gives birth to the Lord. ΘΜΓ Θεὸν Μαρία γεννᾷ: Mary gives birth to God. VDN virgine dominus natus (Roma, Paedagogium). The form ΧΠΓ (not mentioned by Robinson) fits into the same scheme: Χριστὸς Πατρὸς γέννα: Christ, the son of the Father. 15 Robinson cited an Egyptian papyrus and a Nubian inscription that contain the unabbreviated form of the sentence Χριστὸν Μαρία γεννᾷ. 16 All these arguments support the assumption that the acronym XMΓ was normally used in this sense in early Christianity, however, there 12 For another well-known example of this type, though its abbreviated form is later, see INRI/INBI: John 19: 19 20: Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων. 13 Daniel, Maltomini 1992, 56; Lefèbvre 1907, xxxii; Dornseiff 1925, 111: χαρὰ μεγάλη γέγονεν, der Anfang des Hymnus aus der Grabkammer von Kertsch aus dem Jahr Dornseiff 1925, 111: χμγ = θεο ς βοηθός = IGLSyrie VI, 2974: [no]b(ilissimis) [Caes(aribus)]. / τῆς κυρᾶς Δ[ιο]κλίας(?) / <ἔ>τους θξψʹ ΧΠΓ Χ(ριστὸς) Π(ατρὸς) γ(έννα). palm / Εὐάγριος, / Ἰοάννης. 16 Robinson : ΧC MAPIA ΓΕΝΝΑ KAI MAPIA XC ΓΕΝΝΑ K XC MAPIA ΓΕΝΝΑ. (papyrus); Χριστὸ ν Μαρία γεννᾷ, ἀμήν. (inscription). 46

5 G. Németh: Jesus in ancient pagan magic: the Anna Perenna drawings might have been Christians who had a different solution in mind either because they were not familiar with the most common one or because they specifically aimed at calling to archangels Michael and Gabriel beside Christ himself. Nevertheless, no matter how the acronym XMΓ should be resolved, we can clearly see the widespread application of this early Christian acrophonic abbreviation similar to ἰχθύς and. Possible patterns for the -inscription The ἰχθύς-inscription is also found on gemstones to serve an evidently prophylactic function. A cornelian gem in the British Museum depicts the crucified saviour with twice six apostles on either side, and with an ἰχθύς-inscription above the head of Christ. 17 Another gem from unknown provenance presents the following abbreviation: ΙΧΥΘ. The Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum suggests the following solution for the acronym: Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, υἱὸς θεοῦ. 18 A variation of ἰχθύς can be observed in an inscription written with red ink in an Egyptian quarry: Φηβα[μμ]ων Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς IXIΣ. 19 Although Lefèbvre considers this abbreviation a misspelled form of ἰχθύς or Χριστός, I rather assume that we have a unique abbreviation here: Ἰ(ησοῦς) Χ(ριστός), Ἰ(ησοῦς) σ(ωτήρ). A similar individual abbreviation could be possibly seen in a gemstone from Kassel: relying on the mentioned evidence, we might read the inscription IXCX as Ἰ(ησοῦς) Χ(ριστὸς) σ(ωτήρ), Χ(ριστός). 20 On the basis of the above, we can assert that ἰχθύς and its similar variations were exclusively preserved in Christian amulets. The Roman sorcerer of the Anna Perenna spring probably encountered such Christian amulets and had heard about the miracles of Christ. He also needed miracles, thus he naturally adopted magical texts even in abbreviated form from Christian amulets to use them in malevolent practices, since he did not understand the message of Christianity he simply needed powerful voces magicae. The same pattern is manifested in the text of an exorcism from 4th c. Cyprus (Kotansky 1994, No. 68): 17 British Museum 95,11 13,1. Possibly from Constanza, Romania. 18 CIG Lefèbvre, 1907, 43: document 225. Deir Abou Hennis, inscription peinte en rouge, dans une carrière. 20 Michel 2004, 508. Another Christian abbreviation with multiple occurrences is TM. CIG 9079: ἰχθύς Ἰ(ησοῦς) Χ(ριστὸς), θ(εοῦ) υ(ἱὸς), σ(ωτήρ). / anchor ἰχθύς. ΤΜ. The abbreviation can be resolved as τόκος Μαρίας (son of Maria) in most contexts, since Maria is θεοτόκος. ὁρκίζω σε ὀνόματι τοῦ Ναζωραίου τοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. We can assume that our inscriptions (, IXNOΠ, and IXNIX) originate from a Christian amulet exploited to harmful magic by a non-christian sorcerer who had a slender acquaintance with Christianity. Still, similarly to its Christian sources, the sorcerer was creative in applying abbreviations, but he always paid attention to keeping them logically resolvable. His real innovation was to use it on the inscription of a container. Although similar containers have a long story in ancient magic, the magician of the Anna Perenna spring truly entered a new path in employing Christian magical practices in a pagan context (Németh 2013, 79 83). Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to Marina Piranomonte for her permission to use the drawings and for inviting me to solve this problem. This study forms part of OTKA [Hungarian Scientific Research Fund] programme no. K (Ancient magic, parallel researches: Curse tablets and magic gems), and the Zaragoza project titled Espacios de penumbra: Cartografia de la actividad magico-religiosa en el Occidente del Imperio romano (Ref. FFI / FISO). Bibliography Blänsdorf, J The Texts from the Fons Annae Perennae. In: R. Gordon, F. Marco Simón (eds). Magical Practice in the Latin West. Leiden, Boston, Blänsdorf, J., Piranomonte, M Contenitore magico iscritto. In: R. Friggeri, M. G. Granino Cecere, G. L. Gregori (eds). Terme di Diocleziano: La collezione epigrafica. Milano, CIG: Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum. IV. Berlin Daniel, R. W., Maltomini, F Supplementum magicum. Vol. II. Opladen. Dornseiff, F Das Alphabet in Mystik und Magie. Leipzig. Feissel, D Recueil des inscriptions chrétiennes de Macédoine du III e au VI e siècle. Paris. Kotansky, R Greek Magical Amulets. The Inscribed Gold, Silver, Copper and Bronze Lamellae. Part I. Published Texts of Known Provenance. Papyrologica. Opladen. Lefèbvre, G Recueil des inscriptions grecques-chrétiennes d Égypte. Kairo. Metzger, B Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography. Oxford. Michel, S Die magischen Gemmen. Berlin. Nagy, Á Puzzling out the Anguipede: Magical Gems and their Relation to Judaism, Journal of Roman Archaeology 15,

6 The Wisdom of Thoth Magical Texts in Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations Németh, G Audollentiana. Acta Classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis 48, Németh, G Il demone e Gesú Cristo. In: R. Friggeri, M. G. Granino Cecere, G. L. Gregori (eds). Terme di Diocleziano: La collezione epigrafica. Milano, 619. Németh, G Supplementum Audollentianum. Zaragoza, Budapest. Piranomonte, M Religion and Magic at Rome: The Fountain of Anna Perenna. In: R. Gordon, F. M. Simón (eds). Magical Practice in the Latin West: Papers from the International Conference held at the University of Zaragoza, 30. Sept. 1. Oct Leiden, Boston, Robinson, G KMΓ and ΘΜΓ for XMΓ. Tyche 1,