Archaeological Views: Christian Amulets—A Bit of Old, a Bit of New

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In the ancient Roman world, people would commonly protect themselves from illness and harm by wearing amulets. They would also resort to such devices to drive out a preexisting illness or to remedy an acquired affliction. You may think that the advent of Christianity put an end to the pagan practice, but it didn’t—at least not immediately. Rather, the new faith brought an adaptation of the existing pagan practice.

Much of what we know about the practice of making and using amulets comes from the literature of the time. Sophisticated writers of antiquity mocked people who called upon the help of the “old women,” who traditionally were one of the sources of these amulets. For example, the fourth-century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus describes how common-place occult practices put people in danger during a time of heightened political tension. He mentions those who “used some old woman’s charm to relieve pain”a remedy that he considered foolish but harmless.¹

With the spread of Christianity, Christian preachers reprimanded the faithful for relying upon amulets. They urged their congregations, instead, to make the sign of the cross or to apply water or oil that had been blessed by a priest or a monk. Athanasius, a fourth-century bishop of Alexandria, comments about a person who would use amulets:

He has made himself instead of a faithful, an infidel; instead of a Christian, a pagan; instead of an intelligent person, an unintelligent one; instead of a rational person, an irrational one. For an old woman pours over you a flood of words (the snake spell), for 20 obols or a quarter of wine, while you stand there as an ass […] nullifying the seal of the cross that brought you salvation. Not only are the illnesses afraid of that seal, but also the whole crowd of demons fears and wonders at it.²

Christian authorities were especially severe in condemning the practice because they regarded amulets as instruments of the devil. Their remarks, however, clearly show that not all Christians, including clergy, saw things the same way. Amulets, according to many, were just a traditional means of warding off evil and healing illness.

So what sorts of amulets did Christians make or use?³

Many amulets were composed of animal or vegetable matter. These, obviously, have perished. But other amulets have survived—in the form of figurines, engraved stones, and texts written on papyrus, parchment, potsherds, wood, and metal. This last group—textual amulets—is especially interesting, because it allows us to see how Christian ways of praying and worshiping began to influence 066what people wrote on amulets. Due to favorable climate conditions, the largest number of textual amulets have survived in Egypt, many of them in Greek—the lingua franca of the time, as well as the language of the New Testament and the early church.

Christian influences appear in various ways. Sometimes a short, common spell, such as those used to protect against scorpions and snakes, is simply framed with Christian symbols like the sign of the cross. One remarkable example of the fusion of pagan and Christian elements in an amulet is a papyrus now in Oslo (P.Oslo I 5) that reads: “I bind you, Artemisian scorpion, 315 times. Protect this house with its inhabitants from every evil, from all bewitchment, […] from the sting of scorpion and snake.” Accompanied by Christian icons (cross, monogram of Christ, alpha-omega, fish cryptogram), this customary binding spell is then followed by a distinctly Christian doxology, an expression of praises to God: “Give protection, O Lord, son of David according to the flesh, born of the Holy Virgin Mary, O holy, highest God, of the Holy Spirit. Glory to you, O heavenly King. Amen.”

In other amulets, a chant with Christian terms is paired with a Greco-Egyptian chant. For instance, one amulet against fever appeals to both Jesus and the white wolf (the sun god Horus-Apollon) for healing.

In yet other amulets, the structure of the chant may be the same as in non-Christian amulets—commanding, for example, a fever to flee “now, now, now, quickly, quickly, quickly”—but the substance of the chant is entirely Christian. Such chants are addressed to Christian figures (Biblical characters and saints), the stories derive from the Gospels, and the closing words echo liturgical prayers. This type of amulet tends not to use “secret” words and signs commonly found in non-Christian amulets, relying instead on the power of the words and works found in the Christian Bible.

The ways in which writers composed or copied these elements reveal the level of their familiarity with Christian rituals or their association with Christian institutions. A writer who includes a complete doxology addressed to Jesus or a description of Jesus’s work derived from a Christian creed was probably closer to the institutional church than a writer who incorporated a somewhat jumbled excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer or the Eucharistic liturgy. Often, though not always, writers who were more familiar with “standard” Christian material were also more consistent in their use of Christian scribal techniques, such as abbreviations for “God,” “Lord,” “Jesus,” “Christ,” and certain other names (termed nomina sacra, or “sacred names”) that were commonly used by Christians when copying the Bible.

Some amulets consist only or mostly 079of passages derived from the Bible or liturgical services. Psalm 91, also frequently recited in Jewish amulets, was particularly popular. So was the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13; cf. Luke 11:2–4). Many small pieces of papyrus or parchment inscribed with verses from the Psalms have been found, but we cannot always be sure that they were amulets. Occasionally amulets recite part of the legendary correspondence between Jesus and King Abgar of Edessa. This exchange was evidently cited because of what Jesus promises Abgar in his reply: healing or protection. A few amulets draw on what seems to have been a form of the Christian creed used in rituals to exorcise evil spirits.

Further clues may be gleaned from the handwriting of the texts. Some writers were evidently more trained than others. The range extends from highly skilled scribes to people who could barely write. Most amulets were written in practiced “everyday” hands commonly found in documents, letters, or personal copies of books. Words are often spelled as they would have been pronounced rather than written in proper, standard Greek. This reveals that the writers were probably recalling the texts from memory, which is what we would expect, especially in the case of commonplace chants, such as those against snakes and scorpions, or Christian devotional texts, such as the Lord’s Prayer or the Psalms.

Late antique amulets offer an exciting case study of how emerging Christianity modified rather than erased traditional religious practices. At the same time, the study of amulets reveals how people in different cultural settings or social circles picked up on Christian modes of invoking divine power. Even with two similar amulets, we can observe that some writers were more influenced by institutional forms of Christianity than others. We are lucky that there were many sorts of people in the business of providing amulets and that some of their work has survived to inform our understanding of how writing and wearing protective or healing chants began to change as the religious environment shifted from pagan to Christian.