423, Lot: 615. Estimate $300. Sold for $950. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BYZANTINE. Bronze amulet pendant. Circa 7th-8th centuries AD. Facing draped female facing bust, hair consisting of seven serpents (Medusa[?]); in fields, letters Z|O|Φ|H|O; below, four circlets on breast; border of dots in two concentric circles / +VCTEP|A MELANH ME|ΛANOMENH OC OΦ|HC ENTHΛHKΘH|CCE KE OC ΛEON B|PVXOVMENO|O KE OC Π(..)|BAT in eight lines. Diameter: 5.4cm. Cf. D. Papanikola-Bakirtze, Everday life in Byzantium (2002), pp. 486-488; J. Spier, "Medieval Byzantine Amulets and their Tradition,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 56 (1993) 25-62. As made, brown surfaces, some deposits, with original suspension loop.

Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 371 (23 March 2016), lot 1328.

The legend is a magic spell addressed to the womb, commanding it to calm down and remain in its proper place. It occurs in different forms but following the same formula on a number of Byzantine amulets. The formula begins 'Womb, black, blackening, you coil (?) like a dragon, roar (?) like a lion - lie down like a sheep" What specific verbs are used is uncertain, but the structure is clear, as are serpent (ophes), lion (leon) and sheep (probaton).