ORIENTALIA LOVANIENSIA

ANALECTA
219

SEALS AND SEALING PRACTICES IN THE NEAR EAST

Developments in Administration and Magic from Prehistory
to the Islamic Period
Proceedings of an International Workshop
at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo
on December 2-3, 2009

edited by

ILONA REGULSKI, KIM DUISTERMAAT and

PETER VERKINDEREN

UITGEVERIJ PEETERS en DEPARTEMENT OOSTERSE STUDIES

LEUVEN PARIS WALPOLE, MA
2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contributors to this volume

vii

Programme of the conference

ix

Preface

xi

I. Regulski
Introduction
K. Duistermaat
Which Came First, the Bureaucrat or the Seal?
Some Thoughts on the Non-Administrative Origins of Seals
in Neolithic Syria

xiii

V. Mller
Do Seal Impressions Prove a Change in the Administration
during the Reign of King Den?

17

H. Tomas
The Transition from the Linear A to the Linear B Sealing
System

33

U. Dubiel
Protection, Control and Prestige Seals among the Rural
Population of Qau-Matmar

51

K. Vandorpe and B. Van Beek

Non Signat Aegyptus? Seals and Stamps in the
Multicultural Society of Greco-Roman Egypt

81

N.C. Ritter
On the Development of Sasanian Seals and Sealing Practice:
A Mesopotamian Approach

99

B. Caseau
Magical Protection and Stamps in Byzantium

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

J.-Cl. Cheynet and B. Caseau

Sealing Practices in the Byzantine Administration

133

C. Kotsifou
Sealing Practices in the Monasteries of Late Antique and
Early Medieval Egypt

149

P.M. Sijpesteijn
Seals and Papyri from Early Islamic Egypt

163

E. Fernndez Medina
The Seal of Solomon: From Magic to Messianic Device

175

S. Dorpmller
Seals in Islamic Magical Literature

189

K.R. Schaefer
Block Printing as an Extension of the Practice of Stamping

209

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BATRICE CASEAU

Whereas magical rituals could involve complex sets of words and

specific manipulations known only to experts, simple gestures and
one word invocations performed by ordinary persons were also
deemed to work magic in the Ancient World.1 Writing itself was
considered to wield magical powers (Frankfurter 1994: 189-211;
Dornseiff 1925). Those who had divine names, divine signs or
invocations inscribed on any of their belongings believed that such
inscriptions could protect them and/or the objects in their
possession. Invocations of deities worked in the context of the
different religious cultures of the Roman Empire, such as Judaism
(Janowitz 2002: 19-31), Early Christianity (Dillon 1985) and the
numerous cults of the Mediterranean world (Porreca 2010). Simple,
everyday magical practices had one purpose, as F. Graf wrote: to
the ordinary men and women of antiquity exposed to the
contingencies of life, (it) was a way to cope with difficulties in their
daily existence (Graf 1997: 113).
A whole branch of magical practices was devoted to rituals and
gestures providing protection. Everyday objects were placed under
the protection of a divine being by being stamped with a protective
sign or inscription (Dauterman Maguire 1989; Vikan 1980). Museum
collections hold many stamps or seals of different forms and
shapes, which could have been used on bread, dough or on fresh
clay. Amphoras, bricks, lamps and other clay objects were often
stamped.2 Made of bronze, wood or clay, stamps bore inscriptions
or images. Some of them were inscribed only with a name, but
others included wishes, or religious messages. It is this last category
of seals (those bearing religious messages) that I wish to study here.
Their intent was to magically convey some form of protection on
the owner of the object or on the object itself. For example,
religious images with specific protecting words were stamped on
1

Tambiah 1968 and 1985; Graf 1994: 231-261. For their help with bibliography
and for lively discussions, I wish to thank J.-L. Fournet, D. Frankfurter, J. Gascou,
M. Perrin, B. Pitarakis and J.-P. Sodini.
2
Bardill 2004; Garlan 2000; Bakirtzis 1989; Lyon-Caen and Hoff 1986; Hellmann
1985.

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amphora stoppers to protect wine from turning sour, or to make

sure they would travel safely to their destination.3
The stamps under consideration belong to the Roman, Late
Roman, early Byzantine or Byzantine period. One can follow the
changes in seals through time, from when they consisted simply of
well-wishing inscriptions such as health or life, to when they
began to bear Christian images of the cross and inscriptions
alluding to Gods blessing. From the evolution in their shapes and
inscriptions, it is possible to study the Christianization of ancient
magical practices.
The Collections
Roman and Byzantine stamps are found in archaeological
excavations and preserved in different museums around the world.
Some museums have also received donations of stamp collections
dating from the Roman and Byzantine periods.4 In this article, I
shall take most of my examples from three institutions: the
Bibliothque Nationale de France (Cabinet des Mdailles), the
British Museum and the Muse dArt et dHistoire de Genve.5 The
Cabinet des Mdailles in Paris holds a collection of metal, clay and
wooden stamps, given by different donors throughout the past
century. The largest contribution to the Cabinet des Mdailles was
made by W. Froehner, a German scholar who lived in Paris and
worked at the Louvre museum. Greatly appreciated by Napoleon III,
3
J.-L. Fournet 2008: 181, n. 16 concerning Christian inscriptions painted on
amphoras: Lobjectif est de protger lamphore et donc la cargaison. Il est aussi
possible que la conservation du vin soit vise. Ma collgue Hlne Cuvigny attire
mon attention sur un passage des Goponiques (VII 14 tir des Cestes dAfricanus)
qui irait dans ce sens : Pour empcher que le vin ne tourne, tu inscriras sur
lamphore ou la jarre ces paroles divines: Gotez et voyez comme le Seigneur est
bon (Psaumes 33, 9) (
, ,
).
4
One of the biggest collections can be seen at the Menil Foundation in Texas:
http://www.menil.org/collection/antiquities.php (last accessed on 29 May 2011).
5
To study these collections, I have benefited from research grants from the
CNRS. I wish to thank J-Cl. Cheynet, director of the research center OrientMditerrane (UMR 8167), for supporting this research project and also M.
Avisseau, curator at the Cabinet des Mdailles (BNF, Paris), M. Martinani-Reber,
curator in charge of the Department of Applied Art at the Museum dArt et
dHistoire (Genve), and Ch. Entwistle, curator at the British Museum, for allowing
me to study the stamps.

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who sought his advice on archaeological matters, Froehner started

collecting archaeological material for himself. However, as a result
of the ongoing war with Prussia and Froehners German origins, he
lost his job in 1870. Impoverished, he was forced to work small
consulting jobs here and there. He sold part of his collection of
coins, gave some objects to friends and eventually donated his
collection of inscribed objects to the Bibliothque Nationale. This
collection, a bric brac of objects of small sizes, including seals of
different shapes used to stamp bread or clay, entered the Cabinet
des Mdailles upon his death in 1925 (Hellmann 1982: 75-87).
While they are frequently displayed in exhibits concerning the
Byzantine Empire, the late Roman world or the Egyptian Coptic
world,6 such collections are rarely systematically published.
Instances are so rare that we can, in fact, list here the names of all
who have recently published entire collections: in 1985, S. D.
Campbell published the University of Torontos Malcove collection,
a donated set containing four bronze stamps and one wooden one;7
in 2006 and 2009, Michael Grnbart published the 6 metal stamps of
the Bennet collection, a private North American collection, and the
16 metal stamps housed in the British Museum (Grnbart 2006 and
2009); and in 1986, M. H. Rutschowscaya published the 22 wooden
stamps kept in the Louvre museum.8
Chronology
Stamps are usually difficult to date with precision, unless
discovered in a scientific excavation with stratigraphy. In spite of
the difficulty of accurately dating these objects, they can still easily
be matched with a broad time period according to the religious
content of their inscription and imagery. It is likely that stamps
with simple well-wishing invocations, without any Christian
references, date from anywhere between the Roman period up to
the early Byzantine centuries (4th-5th centuries).
Good luck! Be prosperous! May you be rich or successful! These
invocations are found on bronze stamps from the Roman and early
Byzantine periods. Well-wishing stamps were as popular as
6

Byzanz 2010: 279-280; Wamser 2004: 341-343; Wamser and Zahlhaas 1998: 151153; Byzance 1992: 310-311.
7
http://www.utac.utoronto.ca/collections (last accessed on 29 May 2011);
Campbell 1985.
8
Rutschowscaya 1986.

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acclamations and are close to them in spirit (Rouech 1984: 181-199;

Rouech 2009: 169-177). There is no certainty that they could not
have been used in the 6th or 7th centuries, but stamps made then
were more likely to portray a cross or a Christian invocation of
some sort. A stamp can be in use for a long period of time.
Invocations to the deities of the Roman Empire are most probably
from the Roman period (1st-4th centuries), but a Christian of the 5th
or 6th century could just as well use a stamp inherited from an
earlier generation. However, if he were to make a new one, it would
likely have some reference to the Christian faith, either by the
seals shape (a cross) or by the inscription.
Bearing in mind that there was some freedom in the choice of
stamp one wished to use, the presence or the absence of Christian
signs is a chronological indication. The stamps bearing Christian
signs must have been produced during or after the 4th century.
Those simply inscribed with a name can be Roman or early
Byzantine, but a cross would probably be added to the name, at
least from the 5th-6th century onwards. On papyri, crosses appear
before all sorts of texts during the 5th century (Bagnall 2009). These
distinguishable features do not make for a precise tool for dating
seals, but they allow us to make lucid distinctions between a society
not fully Christianized and a society taking for granted the
presence of Christian signs and expressions.
Most of the stamps in the museum collections are dated to the
Late Antique or early Byzantine period (4th -7th centuries), but some
are Roman and some belong to the middle Byzantine period (8-12th
centuries). A stamp of the Cabinet des Mdailles, bought in
Constantinople by W. Froehner, bears an inscription from a
Kalokyros protospatharios (cf. Fig. 1). The dignity of protospatharios
(first sword bearer) was accorded only from 718 CE onwards, so
we can conclude that the stamp dates from the 8th century, at the
earliest (Oikonomides 1972: 297). Denis Feissel suggests the stamp
comes from the 9th-10th centuries, because the family Kalokyros
becomes widely-known during the 10th century (Feissel et al. 2001:
16 n. 11). However, on the stamp, the name is in the genitive form,
which is no longer used on lead seals after 700-720 CE, when it is
replaced by the dative. The use of the dative form starts at the end
of the 7th century. There is a period of overlap during which both
forms are utilized. This particular stamp has a mixture of the
genitive and dative forms (Byzance 1992: 311). Attributing it to the
early 8th century (700-750) is therefore possible and probable. In

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this particular case, the dignity helps to date the stamp, but most
stamps do not have this type of well-dated information. Many
stamps bear simple names and probably belonged to artisans rather
than to aristocrats.

Fig. 1: Rectangular stamp inscribed (Of Kalokyros

the protospatharios). BnF Froehner 556, 55 x 160

Was the stamp of Kalokyros his personal stamp? Or was it a stamp

used to mark objects made for him by workers? The stamp may
reveal that aristocrats, such as Kalokyros, had clay objects that
were produced on their estates and stamped in their name or, more
likely, that they ordered large quantities of clay objects, which
were stamped in their name, to be delivered to them. Brick-stamps
reveal that stamps sometimes bore the name of the person or the
institution ordering the bricks (Bardill 2004). The example of clay
lamps reveals that, when stamps were used, the name of the lampmaker was under the lamp, and the name of the owner on top of it
(Lyon-Caen and Hoff 1986).
The design of a stamp its shape and inscription was determined by the use intended for the seal. We can assume that metal
stamps bearing a first name had a practical use. Stamps allowed
workers to mark their work and be paid for it. Stamps could also
bear the name of producers, who wished to identify their
merchandise. Amphoras on a boat, for example, could be distinguished thanks to stamps, and to the dipinto added by merchants
(Fournet and Pieri 2008). Judging by these functions, metal stamps
inscribed with a first name most likely had a practical use.

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Well-wishing stamps and their Christianization

Stamps are close to amulets, charms and phylacteries in that they
can bear invocations (Leone 2003). Their well-wishing inscriptions
were meant to magically offer a form of protection. Such was the
case with the many stamps inscribed with ZOH (life) and
(health). They wished a good life and good health for whoever
would eat the stamped bread or would buy the stamped object.
P. Perdrizet wrote a very interesting article on the significance of
such inscriptions (Perdrizet 1914: 266-280). The stamps, he
explains, were used in the temples of Asklepios and Hygia, the god
of medicine and the goddess of health, to stamp bread offered or
sold to pilgrims that took part in sacrifices. The bread itself was
called a hygia. To support such an assertion, he cites a verse from
Herodas (3rd century BCE): , ,
(dont forget to bring some of the health bread) and a passage from
Athenaeus, mentioning that the cake (bread?) given to be tasted
during the sacrifices, is called hygeia.9 Such a cake may have been
prepared with barley, oil and wine. This cake or bread was probably
stamped with the word in honor of the goddess. The
inscription of the name of the deity blessed the bread and endowed
it with healing properties.
If some of the stamps preserved in museums and marked
are truly from temples of Asklepios, they can probably be
attributed to the Roman period up to the end of the 4th century CE,
date of the official closing of temples.10 It is probably wrong,
however, to link too closely all of the stamps marked with the
cult of Asklepios and his daughter. Secularized, the invocation
was widely used to convey good wishes of health, rather than to
promote a real religious invocation. The combination ZOH YIA can
be found on different types of stamps, such as a circular stamp (Fig.
2), a shoe-sole-shaped stamp from the Cabinet des Mdailles (Fig. 4)
or an S-shaped stamp also bearing the message, life for all (
C) (Weitzmann 1979: 627-628). It would be difficult to determine
9

Herodas, Mimiambi, Mime 4, The Women sacrificing to Asclepios, Kynno (eds. J.

Rusten, I. C. Cunningham, Loeb, 2009); Athenaeus, III, 82, 15,
, (ed. G. Kaibel, Teubner, 1985).
10
Some cultic practices, such as banquets, remained possible longer
(Frankfurter 1998); stamps could be instrumental in transforming ordinary bread
into an offering. Moreover some temples remained open much longer, at Philae
for example (Dijkstra 2004 and 2008).

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what kind of religious background the owner of this last stamp may
have had due to the lack of a clear religious message.

Fig. 2: Circular stamp inscribed ZOH HYIA (Healthy life), bought in

Cyprus in 1898. BnF Froehner 553, diam. 65 mm. Unpublished.

Let us consider shoe-shaped stamps for a moment. Seals of this

form are very intriguing. While shoes cited in papyri and residing
in archaeological collections have been studied, shoe-shaped
stamps have not attracted much attention.11 Shoes and feet once
had an erotic dimension, illustrated by depictions of Aphrodite
removing her shoe or punishing Eros with it. This scene, described
in epigrams, was a favorite of sculptors, painters and poets
(Hodkinson 2007: 25-28). However, past the eroticism of the image,
one must also remark upon the magical aspect of feet and soles.
Shoe-shaped objects can be viewed as allusions to the deities
footprints. Some sanctuaries boasted the finding of footprints left
by the gods and goddesses; these became objects of veneration
(Deonna 1913: 241). Although (according to L. Castaglione) imprints
found in ancient Egyptian temples indicated the deities presence,
footprints and shoe-shaped objects during the Greco-Roman period
referred to pilgrims who left their imprints at temples, in memory
of a visit.12 The pilgrims left both their name, engraved or painted,
and the shape of one of their feet. On the terrace of the Memnonion
of Abydos, one can clearly read the names of Agathon, Philotera,
11

On shoes in papyri, Russo 2004; on shoes discovered by archaeology,

Montembault 2000.
12
Castaglione 1967: 239-252; dans la symbolique religieuse gyptienne, limage
de lempreinte de pied de la divinit ou du souverain personnifiant la force divine
signifiait leffet bienfaisant et fcondant de lpiphanie du dieu, p. 251.

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Dionysios, Ermia on each of their respective footprints (Perdrizet

1919: 117-118). These imprints symbolized the devotion of the
pilgrim towards the deity and perpetuated his or her prayers.
K. Dunbabin has studied a number of imprints of bare or
sandaled feet that have been discovered, mostly in Egypt (Dunbabin
1990: 85-109). Some, she says, could be votive deposits, calling for
the healing of the foot or wishing for success on a journey, but most
of the imprints simply allude to the presence of a person, either
divine or human.13 Feet are mainly associated with the Egyptian
cults of Serapis and Isis, but can also be linked to the cult of Zeus
Hypsistos. Divine imprints attributed to these deities were deemed
to have healing powers (Leglay 1978: 573-589). This explains why
blessings of good health and life were inscribed on shoe-shaped
stamps (Fig. 3).
If we link these shoe-shaped stamps to the Egyptian cults or to
the cult of Zeus Hypsistos, we should conclude that they are from
the Roman period. If a seal owner wanted to convey an attachment
to the ancient cults without explicitly worshipping the gods, such a
stamp would have been handy, especially in the second half of the
6th century or after, when it had become not only unlawful but also
unsafe for residents of the Byzantine Empire to openly worship the
gods (Caseau 2011). At that time, new stamps most probably
included Christian signs.

Fig. 3: Shoe-shaped stamp, inscribed VIVAS (May you live). BnF inv.
2388, 34 x 15 mm. Cf. Babelon and Blanchet 1895: II 728.
13

Jacquet-Gordon 2003: 3 (imprints belonged to the priestly personnel of the

temple); Wilson 2007: 116 and 120-123 (imprints belonged to visitors).

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We should probably not overstate the strictly religious dimension

of the message carried by the depiction of a foot. The image was
simply seen as an auspicious sign in Late Antiquity. This explains its
presence in bathhouses and in private dwellings. The role of the
foot as a good omen also accounts for objects shaped in its form,
whether lamps (Xanthopoulou 2010), amulets, seals or stamps. Feet
or sandals were often depicted in mosaics and interpreted as a wish
for prosperity, success and good fortune (Dunbabin 1990: 104). They
were still popular as late as the 5th century or early 6th century.

Fig. 4: Shoe-shaped stamp, inscribed (Healthy life). BnF inv.

2372a, 97 x 18 mm. cf. Babelon and Blanchet, 1895: II 727.

So, we are left with two possibilities of interpreting the shoeshaped stamp bearing the inscription (Fig. 4): either it
was linked to an Egyptian cult, or it was drawing on this ancient
tradition in a very loose manner. It is not possible to choose the
right interpretation, but in Late Antiquity, many formerly religious
symbols became cultural ones. The many 5th and 6th century
mosaics with Dionysius illustrate how the deity came to symbolize
good cheer and hospitality (Maguire 2001; Stirling 2005; Bowersock
2006). In the same manner, an image of a foot could have evolved to
simply convey good wishes, rather than to preach particular
religious ideals. As a result of its neutrality and universal
application, it is impossible to be sure of the religious preference of
the owner of stamps with this inscription. If the owner were a
merchant, he could apply such a stamp to amphoras carrying food,
oil or wine. C. Bakirtzis notes that inscriptions invoking divine help
are linked to the Byzantines habit of praying that the wine in the
containers would not turn sour (Bakirtzis 1989: 76). We can
understand the appeal such a message would have had for a
merchant selling his products.

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Fig. 5: Cross-shaped stamp, inscribed (Healthy life). BnF inv.

2371, 94 x 87 mm. Cf. Babelon and Blanchet 1895: II 727.

The popularity of the message explains its adoption by

Christians. In itself, such a message contained nothing reprehensible (except perhaps its past link to the goddess and cult of
Asklepios). The British Museum, the Cabinet des Mdailles and the
Benaki Museum each have stamps in the shape of a cross bearing
the inscription.14 The former is said to be from ca. 5th
century (Galavaris 1970: 50), the latter from the 4th or 5th century
and Egyptian.15 The ancient message has been Christianized by its
inscription within a cross.
The cross was a very powerful sign for Late Antique Christians,
who believed that crossing oneself, or inscribing the cross on
objects, brought apotropaic protection (Walter 1997). Christians
were reminded of their salvation when they saw the cross. It was
the sign of eternal life. The sign of the cross was widely used by
Christians for protection against evil (Israeli 2000: 127-145). Thus,
we find crosses inscribed on many everyday objects. Embroidered
on clothing, worked into jewels, chiseled on silverware, etched on
lintels above a door or drawn into floor mosaics, the sign of the
cross was omnipresent in Christian households. Saints Lives reveal
that it was used in combination with words of prayer to exorcise
people, to cure them and to bless them. When the owner of a 6th
14
British Museum n 84/5-9/26; Benaki Museum n. 11473; Cabinet des Mdailles
BnF inv. 2371 (Fig. 5).
15
Fotopoulos and Delivorrias 1997: 172 ill. 294. Dated to the 4th or 5th C CE,
coming from Egypt. Size L 0.08 m (inv. 11473).

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century Syrian house decided to protect his house, he had the

following words inscribed on the lintel of his door: for as long as
the Cross is set in front of it, the Evil Eye will not have power
(Vikan 2008: 55).
When crosses appear on a stamp, or when the stamp itself has
the shape of a cross, we can presume that the owner was a
Christian and wished to use the protective power of the cross. Yet,
some Late Antique Christians still enjoyed using traditional wellwishing inscriptions as well. On their stamps, they would mix a
Christian sign with a call for good health and life.
P. Perdrizet was somewhat puzzled by this mixture of traditions.
He admitted that Christians could enjoy good wishes but preferred
to imagine that by life they meant eternal life, and by health
they meant a soul free of sin (Perdrizet 1914: 278). He preferred
that Late Antique Christians transform even traditional invocations
to include a Christian theological agenda. A similar idea was later
developed by G. Galavaris (1970: 51): Life in Christ meant health of
soul; and when the soul is healthy, when it is free from the
consequences of sin, it is ready to enter into Eternal Life. Galavaris
even considered these stamps to be meant for the prosphora, the
Eucharistic bread. There is no need to over-spiritualize the
message. Even if Christ is called medicus, or , and the
Eucharist the medicine of life, it remains unlikely that a stamp
destined for the Eucharist would have included the name of an
ancient goddess. This is true even if by the end of Antiquity, this
reference to Hygia was more cultural than religious. Statues of
Asklepios and Hygia were still very popular in the 4th-5th century
(Jacobs 2010: 114). It is probable that the owner of the cross-shaped
stamp bearing the inscription combined, perhaps
without thinking twice, two types of protection: the powerful
Christian sign of the cross, able to repel demons, and the wellwishing inscriptions of his ancestors. It seems that the
message was too closely-linked with pagan and magical practices to
become completely Christianized. This explains why it was not
commonly used during the Byzantine period, despite its popularity
during Late Antiquity.
The messages link to magic is undeniable. The word is
found on many magical objects. A tabella ansata discovered in the
region of Tyr shows, on one side, a rider, a group of snakes and the
inscription C C, while the other side reads (Dalton 1901:
543). Such a syncretistic combination of words and images created

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a powerful protective message, common on objects used for

magical purposes.16 For example, a bronze bracelet with Christian
scenes (women at the tomb, Mary and Jesus) was also decorated
with a holy rider, under whom was inscribed the word . The
bracelet bears more inscriptions: the first verse of Psalm 91 (he
who dwells in the shelter of the Most High) and holy holy holy is
the Lord.17 could be found on a wide range of objects. Some
were more acceptable than others to the Christian authorities, who
either frowned upon or vigorously condemned magical practices
(MacMullen 1964, Graf 1994). In itself, it was simply a wish for good
health. Its association with magic came from the numerous amulets
on which it was in presence of figures and words belonging to the
magical lore. Stamps could allude to this world of magic simply by
using the word .

Fig. 6: Shoe-shaped stamp inscribed C C (One God), bought in

Beirut in 1899. BnF Froehner 513, 100 x 35.

This may also be the case with the stamps bearing the inscription
C C.18 This reference to the one God has long been
considered either Jewish or Christian. Recently, it has also been
linked to pagan monotheism (Mitchell 2010). Of all the inscriptions
and citations that E. Peterson studied bearing those words, he
considered a large number to be Christian and originating in Syria
or Egypt (Peterson 1926). L. Di Segni collected all the C C
inscriptions from Palestine and came to the conclusion that C
C has almost no independent Jewish use. It is found as a part of
16

Israeli 2000: The sacred horseman, 159-161; Bonner 1950.

Israeli 2000: 162-163; on amuletic bracelets, Vikan 2003.
18
Wamser 1998: 152-153. A stamp in the shape of a shoe, belonging to a private
collection (cf. Fig. 6).
17

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pagan inscriptions, a large group of which was connected to the

cult of Helios-Sarapis, on magical Gnostic amulets, in Samaritan
synagogues and within Christian inscriptions (Di Segni 1994: 94115). Its use in magical inscriptions comes from the formula:
, One God the victor against evil. Although this
group of words is not the only one associated with C C, it is
the one most commonly seen. The combination forms a formula for
magical protection (Russell 1995: 37-38; Prentice 1906: 137-150).
In 1906, Prentice noticed that, on lintels, the main purpose of
inscriptions and symbols was to bring luck or to avert evil. He
added: certainly the name of God has always been and is now in
the East the most potent charm against evil (Prentice 1906: 138).
The words C C on a stamp played the same apotropaic role.
Although Christians used C C as a proclamation of their
faith,19 its use in a magical context and in pagan cults may account
for some wariness on the part of the Byzantines of later centuries.
On stamps, the and C C messages were replaced by
other, less tainted messages of protection such as blessing of the
Lord on us ( C; cf. Fig. 7), common in the
6th century (Cohen-Uzzielli 2006: 172; Galavaris 1970: 118), or Lord
help ( ), a phrase which forms the opening line of
many Byzantine seals, from the end of the 6th century and the
middle of the 7th (see in this volume, Cheynet and Caseau).

Fig. 7: Circular stamp inscribed + [] () []

[]OY + (Blessing of the Lord on us. From Sergios). BnF Froehner 564,
diam. 105 mm.
19
ajtar 2006: 219: inscribed probably by a monk in the
6th century as an answer to an earlier graffito (1st-2nd c.) asking the Lord god
Asklepios and Amenothes and Hygia for healing.

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While amulets and phylacteries remained concealed (as magical

practices were illegal and condemned by Church authorities),
stamps were used on bread and on other objects that anyone could
see. In the late Roman and early Byzantine period, stamps with
apotropaic formulae were as popular as amulets, yet their form of
magic could not be as explicitly syncretistic. It was softer and
discreet. One or two words were enough to call on ancient forms of
protection.
Stamps evolved with the societies that created them. Although
originally they called on the benevolence and protection of many
gods, they later asked for the protection of the one God, soon
identified as the Christian god. Stamps were Christianized first by
the adoption of cross-shaped stamps and then by the preference for
new formulaic inscriptions calling on Christ or the Theotokos for
protection (Wamser 2004: 340-341).
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