THE SNAKE-HEADED DEMON

THE SNAKE-HEADED DEMON

GYÖRGY NÉMETHUniversity ELTE, Budapest

RESUMEN

La imagen del demon con cabeza de serpiente se atestigua en cuatro tablillas de plomo que han sido interpretadas como defi xiones. DTAud 247 y DTAud 298, cuyos dibujos se publican aquí por primera vez, son efectivamente tablillas imprecatorias; sin embargo, las dos láminas de bronce publicadas por A. Merlin y A. Audollent en 1930 es más probable que deban interpretarse como amuletos. Esta hipótesis viene confi rmada por la lámina de bronce encontrada en la Catacumba de Novatiano, los así llamados amuletos-decano, y por las gemas mágicas tambien interpretadas como amuletos-decano, que igualmente presentan démones con cabeza de serpiente.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Demon con cabeza de serpiente, Defi xio, Amuleto-decano, Catacumba de Novatiano, Gemas mágicas, Audollent.

EL DEMON CON CABEZA DE SERPIENTE

ABSTRACT

The image of the snake-headed demon is attested on four lead tablets that have been interpreted as defi xiones. DTAud 247 and DTAud 298, the drawings of which are published here for the fi rst time, are indeed curse tablets, however, the two lead lamellae published by A. Merlin and A. Audollent in 1930 are more likely to be interpreted as amulets. This hypothesis is confi rmed by the bronze lamella found in the Novatianus Catacomb, the so-called decan amulets, and the magic gems also interpreted as decan amulets, which similarly present snake-headed demons.

KEY WORDS: Snake-headed demon, Defi xio, Decan amulet, Novatianus catacomb, Magic gems, Audollent.

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Received: 12th June 2012 Accepted: 2nd July 2012

In 1930, Alfred Merlin published a lead tablet found in Carthage that depicted a snake-headed humanoid creature1. The fi gure holds a scorpion in its right hand and a

1 This study (presented as a paper in Barcelona at the conference “Mito y magia” in 2012) forms part of OTKA [Hungarian Scientifi c Research Fund] programme no. K 81332 (Ancient magic, parallel researches: Curse tablets and magic gems), and the Zaragoza project titled Espacios de penumbra: Cartografi a de la actividad magico-religiosa en el Occidente del Imperio romano (Ref. FFI 2008–01511 / FISO). I owe a debt of gratitude to Prof. Joachim-Friedrich Quack, who gave me useful advice in the identifi cation of the decans.

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palm branch in its left2. Beneath its feet we read a name: ΠΡOKΛOΣ3. The following letters can be found on its chest:

WMEΛAM/AΡW

Merlin remarks that in R. P. Delattre’s view the drawing is a caricature of Proklos, a Montanist heretic from Phrygia4. Merlin himself prefers to interpret the drawing

2 A. MERLIN, 1930, pp. 33–35.3 For the role of drawings in ancient magic, see R. GORDON, 2002, pp. 97–107.4 A. MERLIN, 1930, p. 34: „une caricature du Montaniste Proclus”. For Proklos, see Eusebios: Hist.

eccl. 2, 25, 6.

Fig. 1. Proklos, drawing of Clément Thouverey Fig. 2. Harpokratiôn, drawing of A. Audollent


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The Snake-headed Demon 55

as a defi xio that aims at blocking the power of the scorpion, which he claims to be an apotropaic symbol5. In the same year and in the same periodical, Auguste Audol-lent published another lead tablet from Carthage with a nearly identical drawing (fi g. 2), though the name of the target person is Harpokratiôn, also called Neilos: AΡΠΟΚΡAΤΙWN O KAI NEIΛOΣ6. The letters on the fi gure’s chest are more leg-ible than those on the drawing published by Merlin:

WMEΛAMΦAPWK

According to Audollent, these letters suggest the eulamô spell, which would prove in itself that this lamella contains a defi xio7. The distinguished scholar of an-cient magic supposed that the snake-headed fi gure is a representation of Osiris8.

Amulets and magic gems functioning as amulets with the eulamô formula were not known in the time of Audollent9. Consequently, the inscriptions naming Proklos and Harpokratiôn could well be amulets. Besides that these items were found in Carthage, their provenance is not known, thus it is uncertain if they come from graves – though this would still not rule out amulet function, since several amulets were found in graves. It might be unusual that the inscriptions are not written on gold or silver lamellae (as most amulets are), still, a good number of lead amulets are attested10. The drawing would clearly gain a different interpretation if we could explain it as an amulet. The demon, seizing the scorpion, prevents it from attacking Proklos or Harpokratiôn and its success is expressed by the palm branch, the symbol of victory. Yet do we fi nd snake-headed demons elsewhere as obvious tools of protection?

5 A. MERLIN, 1930, pp. 34–35: „Le démon à tête de serpent porte dans la main gauche une palme, gage et emblème de victoire, et dans la main droit il serre la queue d’un scorpion. Le scorpion est un animal apotropaique, … qui … s’at-il est mis dans impossibilité d’exercer son action prophylactique qui conjurerait l’incantation dirigée contre Proclos.”

6 A. AUDOLLENT, 1930, p. 304.7 A. AUDOLLENT, 1930, p. 307: „Ce seul détail suffi rait à faire classer le document parmi les defi xiones,

car rien ne permet de le tenir pour une formule préservatrice.”8 A. AUDOLLENT, 1930, p. 307: „On ne se trompera guere … en le rapprochant d’Osiris, avec qui le

serpent a des affi nités certaines, et qui est parfois representé lui-même sous la forme d’un serpent.”9 Eulamô or its modifi ed form: S. MICHEL, 2004, 502; ôlam, ôlewlam: R. KOTANSKY, 1994, pp. 4; 17.10 For a list of 15 amulets inscribed on lead lamellae, see S. GIANNOBILE – D. JORDAN, 2006, pp. 81–84.


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GYÖRGY NÉMETH56

There are two other drawings of Au-dollent depicting the snake-headed de-mon11. DTAud 298 is found in a grave dated to the middle of 2nd cent. AD, in the cemetery of Hadrumetum12. The fi rst publishers describe the demon as a snake-headed female (!) fi gure (fi g. 3)13. This assumption is positively re-futed by Audollent, who claims that nothing hints at the fi gure depicting a woman14. The catalogue of Musée Alaoui provides the following descrip-tion: “Démon à tête de serpent tenant de la main droite une lance, de la main gauche une haste plus courte. Inscrip-tion grecque”15. According to Audol-lent: “Daemon nudus, caput et collum serpentis, hominis corpus, et pedes aduncis unguibus armatos exhibens, hastam utrinque manu tenens.” The in-scription being unintelligible, he adds: “Quid sibi velit defi xio obscurum est”. We can clearly conclude that he had no doubt about the function of the lead la-

mella and classifi ed it as a curse tablet. The portrayal of the snake, i.e. its small crest and jowl make it distinct from Carthaginian items, yet the inscription on the demon’s chest is an important link. Audollent reads:

WMEΛΘMAΘ

11 Archives Départementales du Puy-de-Dôme, Fond “19 J”, Box Nr. 12.12 For the dating, see S. REINACH, 1898, p. 355.13 L. CHOPPARD – G. HANNEZO, 1893, p. 199: „Le démon nu, de sexe féminin, ayant une tête de serpent,

tenant à chaque main une pique, les pieds terminés par des griffes ; cette image magique a été tracée par le scribe au milieu même des lettres de malédiction.”

14 A. AUDOLLENT, 1904, pp. 412–413.15 R.–M. COUDRAY DE BLANCHÈRE, 1897, p. 128.

Fig. 3. DTAud298, drawing of A. Audollent


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Merlin pointed out that these letters are similar to those on the chest of Proklos’ demon16. The Hadrumetum lamella can be linked to defi xiones not so much by its image or inscription but rather by its provenance: it was cast into the grave subse-quently through a tube built for sacrifi ce, thus it was not buried with the deceased, which unequivocally shows it was a defi xio17.

The other drawing of Audollent depicting a snake-headed demon was found in the amphitheatre of Carthage (DTAud 247, fi g. 4). The image is similar to that of

Proklos and Harpokratiôn. The human fi gure looks to the left, his legs also face left, whereas he holds a palm branch, as I see it, in his left hand. (Audollent indistinctly interprets it as a fl ash of lightning: “Homo stans [Typhon-Seth?] serpentis capite in-

16 A. MERLIN, 1930, p. 34.17 S. REINACH, 1898, 353.

Fig. 4. DTAud 247, drawing of A. Audollent


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signis, tenens hastam dextra, fulmen (?) sinistra.”) The fragments of the inscription reveal that the curse is targeted at a venator called Gallicus:

Occidite exterminate vulnerate Gallicu quen peperit Prima in ista ora in ampiteatri… obliga Gallicu quen peperit Prima ut neque ursu neque tauru singulis plagis occidat...

It is peculiar that Audollent (though doubtfully) identifi es the demon as Typhôn-Sêth. He gives no reason to support his decision.

The fi nding circumstances of the last two tablets and the above inscription leave no doubt that these lamellae are defi xiones. This may push the interpretation of the other two Carthaginian tablets also towards curses. However, there is an unambiguous example from the 3rd cent. AD that clearly presents the snake-headed demon in protective function.

A bronze lamella fi xed to the cover of a Christian grave (3rd cent.) was found in the Novatianus catacomb in Rome (fi g. 5). The tablet shows a standing snake-headed human fi gure facing left, swathed like a mummy, with an inscription fi eld beneath his feet that contains unintelligi-ble signs similar to hieroglyphics18. The publisher of the bronze tablet, H. Lietzmann, was positively convinced about the amulet function of the drawing and the pseudo-inscription, though it is unusual that a Christian used such an obvious pagan symbol. He probably expected some assistance at his journey in the afterlife19. Lietzmann con-nected the drawing from the Novatianus catacomb with snake-headed demons on magic gems of Egyptian origin that were erroneously labelled as Gnostic (fi g. 6), and he used the Hiera biblos, an astrological work attributed to Hermês Trismegistos to support his interpretation. There we fi nd a description of the third decan of Libra: a snake-headed human fi gure wearing a crown and called Phou20. If engraved into a gem, Phou protects the bearer from the infl ammation of the rectum, haemorrhoids, and tumours.

18 H. LIETZMANN, 1934, pp. 359–360.

19 H. LIETZMANN, 1934, p. 362: „Dann war ihm der schlangenköpfi ge Gott ein Helfer auch im Tode, ein Führer auch im Jenseits.”

20 H. LIETZMANN, 1934, p. 361., citing the Hiera biblos from the 1908 edition of C.-E. Ruelle, published in Revue de Philologie.

Fig. 5. Bronze tablet from the Novatianus ca ta comb


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While Lietzman clearly iden tifi es the demon of the gems with Phou (though these gem fi gures never wear a crown), he does not do the same with the cata-comb drawing, since it does not perform its protective function against diseases21.

Campbell Bonner, who de voted a chapter to the sna ke-headed demon, defi -nitely rejects the Gnostic origins of the motif22. Like-

wise, he does not consider the fi gure as late represen-tations of deities from pharaonic Egypt, since Nun, Nunt, Nehebka, and Nehir did not play considerable role any more in folk religion in the Roman period. Consequently, we cannot determine the name of the snake-headed demon23. The de-barring of Nehebka (or Nehebkau) deserves special attention, since Alan W. Shorter proposed in an impressive study that the representations of certain fi gures (human body, serpentine head and tail) on amulets still used in Hellenistic and Roman times are identical with Nehebkau (fi g. 7)24. Therefore such amulets are still often exhibited as portrayals of Nehebkau in museums25. There are also other identifi cations of the snake-headed demons on gemstones. Simone Michel interprets the representation as Thot, whereas Attilio Mastrocinque as Aberamenthô, who is identifi ed with Christ in the Gnostic Pistis Sophia26. Still, whatever name they attached to the snake-headed fi gure, they surely used the fi gure for an amulet.

21 For a recent discussion of magic gems depicting the snake-headed demon, see S. MICHEL, 2004, p. 328.22 C. BONNER, 1950, p. 160: „So far as we can judge, the serpent-headed deities or demons that are

represented on amulets have nothing to connect them with Gnosticism”.23 C. BONNER, 1950, p. 161: „Thus far we are unable to name these partly serpentine demons”.24 A. W. SHORTER, 1935, p. 42.25 L. KÁKOSY, 1982, pp. 176–177.26 S. MICHEL, 2004, p. 197. A. MASTROCINQUE, 2005, p. 190: „In the Gnostic treatise Pistis Sophia Aberamentho

is identifi ed with Jesus.” See Pistis Sophia IV 136; 139; 141. A. MASTROCINQUE, 2005, p. 191: „To conclude, Jesus was merged with the magical Egyptianizing god known as Aberamentho because he was a serpentiform god residing in the celestial pole in the extreme North, and was also a solar deity.”

Fig. 6. Magic gem depict-ing a decan, Michel Tab. 18. 3.

Fig. 7. Decan amulet errone-ously identifi ed as Nehebkau in the Metropolitan Museum, Accession Number 89.2.540


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Today it is evident that the snake-headed human fi gures deployed as amulets (also in graves) depict decans27. The decans divided each zodiacal sign into three periods. In Egypt, 36 decans corresponded to 360 days, and 12 further decans to the remaining fi ve days28. Since particular decans could have several names, it is impossible to name them clearly. Egyptian astrology was obviously not of common knowledge among ordinary people and amulet makers, yet they could easily see representations of decans on the walls of Hellenistic or Roman sanctuaries29. It is more probable to regard these images as the models of our amulets than to assume that Egyptian sorcerers had to read Gnostic treatises in Greek to prepare their faïence fi gures or magic gems.

The drawing in the Novatianus catacomb clearly depict a decan, yet there is a conspicuous similarity between e.g. the snake-headed fi gure of DTAud 298 and the decan from Kom Ombo, holding a snake in both hands. However, while the lead tablets uncovered from graves in Carthage and Hadrumetum are positively defi x-iones, the snake-headed human fi gures of Harpokratiôn and Proklos may be more reasonably interpreted as amulet decans protecting their bearers against scorpions. Nevertheless, it is not worth conjecturing various names for the demon, since prob-ably the amulet maker did not know it, either30.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AUDOLLENT, A.,- Defi xionum tabellae quotquot innotuerunt tam in Graecis Orientis, quam in totius Oc-

cidentis partibus propter Atticas, in Corpore Inscriptionum Atticarum editas, Paris, 1904.- “Deux nouvelles defi xions de Tunisie”, in BCTH, (1910) 137–148.- “Note sur une plaquette magique de Carthage”, in CRAI, 30 (1930) 303–309.BONNER, C.,- Studies in Magical Amulets: Chiefl y Graeco-Egyptian, Ann Arbor, 1950.CHOPPARD, L. – HANNEZO, G.,- “Nouvelles découvertes dans la Nécropole romaine d’Hadrumète” in BCTH, (1893) 193–202.COUDRAY DE BLANCHÈRE, R.–M. de – GAUCKLER, P.,- Catalogue du Musée Alaoui, Paris, 1897.

27 L. KÁKOSY, 1982, pp. 176–177. 28 L. KÁKOSY, 1982, pp. 165; 183.29 L. KÁKOSY, 1982, pp. 179–182. The images of the temple of Esna were completed in the period

between emperor Vespasian and Geta, thus the roofi ng gained its fi nal form in the 3rd century, see L. KÁKOSY, 1978, 131.

30 I have to remark that the scorpion became the symbol of Africa and it appeared e.g. on the coins of Hadrian in 136, where a female fi gure (representing Africa) holds a scorpion in her right hand, cf. RIC 299 (C); Cohen 137. Horus amulets (Horus holding a snake or scorpion, or both) could also infl uence the portrayal. For the iconography, see C. BONNER, 1950, p. 157.


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GIANNOBILE, S. – JORDAN, D.- “A lead phylactery from Colle san Basilio”, in GRBS, 46 (2006) 73–86.GORDON, R.,- “Shaping the Text: Innovation and Authority in Graeco–Egyptian Magic”, in HORSTMAN-

SHOFF, H. F. J. et al. (eds.), Kykeon, Leiden, Boston, Köln, 2002, pp. 69–111.KÁKOSY, L.,- Egyiptomi és antik csillaghit, Budapest, 1978.- “Decans in Late-Egyptian Religion”, Oikumene, 3 (1982) 163–192.KOTANSKY, R.,- Greek Magical Amulets I, Opladen, 1994.LIETZMANN, H.,- “Ein Gnostiker in der Novatianuskatakombe”, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana, 11

(1934) 359–362.MASTROCINQUE, A.,- From Jewish Magic to Gnosticism, Tübingen, 2005.MERLIN, A.,- “Une lamelle plomb trouvée à Carthage”, CRAI, 30 (1930) 33–35.MICHEL, S., - Die magischen Gemmen, Berlin, 2004.REINACH, S.,- “Tombe d’Hadrumete ornée de Bas-reliefs en stuc”, in BCTH (1898) 353–355.SHORTER, A. W.,- The God Nehebkau”, in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 21 (1935) 41–48.


THE SNAKE-HEADED DEMON

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