KYPRIANOS DATABASE OF ANCIENT RITUAL TEXTS search icon
MANUSCRIPTS
TEXTS
ARCHIVES
HELP


KYPRIANOS M3825

Sigla: question mark icon Modern names for the manuscript, including inventory and publication numbers.

GMA 4
Former Collection E. Molenaar, Krefeld (lost)

Category: question mark icon Classification of the contents, e.g. magical (formulary or applied), alchemical, liturgical, documentary or medical.

Magical (applied)
Contents:

1. Ro ll. 1-10: Amulet for protection consisting of the Greek vowels and voces magicae (?).
See all texts in this manuscript.

Language(s):

[non-linguistic]
Script(s):

Greek
Dialect:
Language/dialect notes:
Date: question mark icon Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. 201 – 300
Date notes:

Kotansky (1994: p. 16); Grimm (1969: p. 131). The grave in which the amulet was found can be dated by coin finds from the reigns of Hadrian and Antinoninus Pius.
Archive/collection: question mark icon Larger collection to which manuscript belongs.
Archive name:
State of edition:

Published.
Image:

Form:

Sheet
Material:

Metal (gold)
Dimensions (cm): Height: 5.7 Width: 8.4 Depth:
Dimensions (notes):

Kotansky (1994: p. 16); Zuntz (1971: p. 280); Grimm (1969: p. 129); Siebourg (1898: p. 131).
Folding pattern:

Rolled.
State of preservation:

Complete.
Pages/Columns: question mark icon Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices.

2
Pages/Columns (notes):

1 column, 10 lines.
Hand:

Findspot:

Gelduba, Germany

(TM places ID: 20278)
Place of purchase: (TM places ID: )
Writingspot:

Gelduba, Germany (?)

(TM places ID: 20278)
Present Location:

Now lost.
Collection History:

Excavated on 4 January 1897 by the farmer Klassen in Gelduba, a former Roman camp. Purchased by Emil Molenaar in Krefeld (Kotansky 1994, 16).
Trismegistos collection: question mark icon Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript.
Collection website:

Notes/Discussion:

The gold amulet was inside a cylindrical gold capsule 0.8 x 6 cm, and belonged to a woman in a grave. It came with a chain designed to be worn around the neck (Kotansky 1994: p. 16; Zuntz 1971: p. 280; Grimm 1969: p. 130; Siebourg 1898: p. 123).

Bibiliography
Editions:

Grimm, Günter. Die Zeugnisse Ägyptischer Religion und Kunstelemente im Römischen Deutschland. Leiden: Brill, 1969, p. 129-131, no. 13.

★ Kotansky, Roy. Greek Magical Amulets. The Inscribed Gold, Silver, Copper, and Bronze Lamellae. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1994, p. 16-21, no. 4, pl. 1.

Siebourg, Max. “Ein Gnostisches Goldamulet aus Gellep.” Bonner Jahrbücher 103 (1898): 123-153.
Translations:
General:

Brockelmann, C. “Ephesia Grammata.” Bonner Jahrbücher 104 (1899): 192-193.

Fremersdorf, Fritz. “Inschriften auf Römischen Kleingerät aus Köln.” Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 27 (1937): 39.

Holmquist, Wilhelm. Kunstprobleme der Merowingerzeit. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1939, p. 127, no. 57 + p. 157, no. 140.

Jordan, David R. “The Inscribed Gold Tablet from the Vigna Codini.” American Journal of Archaeology 89 (1985): 165, note 20.

Lehner, Hans. “Orientalische Mysterienkulte im römischen Rheinland. Erweiterter Vortrag, gehalten im Verein von Altertumsfreunden am 16. März 1924.” Bonner Jahrbücher 129 (1924): 62-63.

Oxé, August. “Ein Goldamulett von Gelduba und unsere heutigen Wochentage.” Die Heimat: Krefelder Jahrbuch. Zeitschrift für niederrheinische Kultur- und Heimatpflege 13 (1934): 137. (non vidi)

Riese, Friedrich A. Das Rheinische Germanien in den antiken Inschriften. Leipzig: Teubner, 1914, p. 364, no. 3617.

Robinson, David M. “A Magical Text from Beroea in Macedonia.” In: Classical and Mediaeval Studies in Honor of E.K. Rand, edited by Leslie Webber Jones. New York, 1938, p. 246, no. 6. (non vidi)

Siebourg, Max. “Neue Goldblättchen mit Griechischen Aufschriften.” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 10 (1907): 398-399.

Vermaseren, M. J. “A Magical Time God.” In: Mithraic Studies. Proceedings of the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies, edited by John R. Hinnells. Rowman and Littlefield: Manchester University Press, 1971, p. 447, note 8. (non vidi)

Wünsch, R. “Deisidaimoniaka.” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 12 (1909): 26.

Zuntz, Günther. Persephone. Three Essays on Religion and Thought in Magna Graecia. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1971, p. 280.

Trismegistos ID: PAThs:
PGM: question mark icon Papyri Gracae Magicae SM: question mark icon Supplementum Magicum GEMF: question mark icon Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming) ACM: question mark icon Ancient Christian Magic
Bélanger Sarrazin: question mark icon Bélanger-Sarrazin. “Catalogue des textes magiques coptes” AKZ: question mark icon Ausgewählte koptische Zaubertexte CBd: question mark icon Campbell-Bonner Magical Gems Database Mert.-Pack: question mark icon Mertens-Pack online database
Van H: question mark icon van Haelst, Catalogue des papyrus littéraires Bruyn-Dijkstra: question mark icon de Bruyn and Dijkstra, “Greek Amulets and Formularies (Checklist)" TheDefix: question mark icon Thesaurus Defixionum To Zodion:
Edit History:

KD (13/9/2022); ST (6/10/2022); ST (7/10/2022); ST (13/10/2022); ST (14/10/2022); KD (8/11/2022); ST (16/3/2023)

How to cite:
Korshi Dosoo & Markéta Preininger (principal editors). "KYP M3825," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m3825. Accessed on 06/12/2025

Found a mistake? Let us know!