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Amulets: Ancient, Medieval, and Oriental: Isaiah

The prophet Isaiah in his third chapter, where he scores the wantonness and vanity of the Daughters of Zion (vs. 16-26), enumerates in detail the various adornments of a Hebrew mondaine toward the end of the eighth century before Christ. Among the jewels and trinkets, amulets (lehashim; v. 20) are expressly mentioned, and also "crescents," these being probably of gold. While it is not possible to determine the material of the amulets, the fact that they are named together with rich ornaments of various kinds, rings, nose-jewels, bracelets, anklets, etc., indicates that they were of precious material, and were possibly engraved precious stones or seals of some sort. In the Song of Songs, which can scarcely be assigned to a later date than Isaiah, and may have been written earlier, the seal is named in what is perhaps the most beautiful passage of this unique poem, Chapter VII, verse 6: Set me as a seal upon thine heart; as a seal upon thine arm. For love is strong as death; passion is unyielding as Hades, The flashes thereof are flashes of fire; an all-consuming flame.

The golden "crescents" were used as amulets by the Midianites for suspension on the necks of their camels, at the period of the Hebrew conquest of Canaan, as appears from the eighth chapter of Judges (v. 21). The burying in a grave of valuable gems and ornaments worn by the deceased during life must have been originally due to a belief that they served as talismans to guard the remains from the malign influence of evil spirits, or perhaps even to afford protection and aid, by some strange occult power, to the soul of the departed in the under or upper world whither it had journeyed. In the New World, among the more highly civilized and wealthy Indian tribes of the south, this custom was very general, and rich spoils have been taken from their graves by the unsentimental settlers from Europe. In the Old World also this usage was quite common; Egyptian tombs have afforded jewels of gold and gems worth large sums intrinsically, apart from their archaeological value, and only to note one among many instances, we may recall the treasures unearthed by the indefatigable Schliemann in the old Greek tombs of Mycenae. However, of all these finds none surpasses in interest that made by M. Henry de Morgan near Susa on February 10, 1901, when there was brought to light, from a depth of some six metres below the surface, a bronze sarcophagus containing the skeleton of a woman. Heaped upon the breast of the skeleton and strewn about the head and neck was a mass of finely-wrought and artistic gems and jewels, including several detached amulets. From coins found in the burial and also from the general character of these relics, M. de Morgan believes that the interment must have been made at some date between 350 and 330 B.C., just before Alexander's invasion of Persia.

The jewels embrace a beautiful gold torque weighing 385 grams (something over one pound Troy). The hoop terminates in two lions' heads having cheeks of turquoise, while on the muzzle is a lapis lazuli flanked by two turquoises; on the top of the head is a plate of mother-of-pearl. Bracelets similar in design and decoration to the torque go to complete the parure. Of even greater interest than the gold torque was a three-row pearl necklace, 238 of the pearls being still more or less well preserved; originally there must have been from 400 to 500 of them. Still another valuable necklace consists of 400 beads of precious or ornamental stone material and 400 gold beads. The stones represented are turquoise, lapis lazuli, emerald, agate, various jaspers, red and blond carnelian, feldspar, jade (?), hyaline and milky quartz, amethyst of a pale violet hue, hematite, several marbles and breccia. A fourth necklace had a row of beads and pendants incrusted with carnelian, lapis lazuli and turquoise; here the sharp contrast of the bright red carnelian disturbs the harmonious effect produced by the combination of the dark blue lapis lazuli and the light blue turquoise.

The detached amulets are of various forms, one figuring a sphinx with a ram's head; this was in white paste with green enamel. Another, of gold, was rudely fashioned in the form of a lion or a cat, and there was also a dove of lapis lazuli, poorly executed, the amulets (mainly of Egyptian type) being of very inferior workmanship as compared with the jewels. Still they serve to confirm the belief that this heaping up in the tomb of all the dearest treasures cherished in life, was intended to exert a post-mortem influence upon the after-life of the dead woman.