Fuente: James Drescher, “A Coptic Amulet,” in Coptic Studies in Honor of Walter Ewing Crum (Boston: The Byzantine Institute, Inc., 1950), 265–270
| Object Type | Written amulet / phylakterion |
| Ritual Function | Personal apotropaic protection.
The text asks that whoever carries the amulet be protected from harm, evil, witchcraft, evil spirits, negative astral influence, and the works of the Adversary. The published translation explicitly states |
| Chronology | Uncertain dating. Probably between Late Antiquity and the early medieval Coptic period.
Drescher states that he is unable to date the object securely. At first sight, he considered a fifth-century script possible, but he also warns that late magical texts may imitate earlier plain scripts. Other features may point to a later date, possibly even after the Arab conquest if the reference to the camel is interpreted in that direction. The chronology should therefore be recorded as uncertain, avoiding an overly precise dating. |
| Provenance | Egypt. Possibly the Oxyrhynchus region, although this is not certain.
Drescher states that there is no secure external information about the provenance. On dialectal grounds, the amulet could have come from a broad area of the Nile Valley, between Behnesa/Oxyrhynchus and Luxor/Thebes. However, Drescher notes that the name Philoxenus was almost unknown at Thebes but popular at Oxyrhynchus, and therefore suggests, as a hypothesis, an Oxyrhynchite or nearby provenance. |
| Language | Coptic, with divine names, ritual voces, and elements belonging to Greek, Jewish, Gnostic, and Christian traditions. |
| Support | Parchment.
The support was repeatedly folded. Drescher describes twelve lengthwise folds, dividing the amulet into thirteen sections, while noting that an upper section was probably lost. He also observes transverse folds and damage in the upper part, perhaps caused by exposure to the body perspiration of the person who wore it. |
| State of Preservation | Fragmentary, with loss in the upper section and particularly visible damage in the upper left corner.
The final plate of the Drescher’s article shows the complete amulet, with dense writing, marked folds, and breaks in the upper area. The image makes clear that the object was designed to be folded and carried, rather than to function as an ordinary manuscript for reading. |
| Christian Markers |
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| Ritual Elements Not Exclusively Christian | According to Drescher, the main interest of the amulet lies in the variety of traditions it combines. In addition to Christian elements, it incorporates names and motifs of Jewish, Gnostic, solar, and possibly Arabic origin. Among them are Iao, Sabaoth, Adonai, Arath, Mithras, Orphamiel, Orpha, the chariots of the sun, the seven Cherubim, the seven archangels, and the “great name of God” known only to the camel. |
| Short Description | A Coptic amulet written on parchment, protective in character, composed through the accumulation of biblical formulae, divine names, angelological invocations, and adjurations. The text probably protects Philoxenus (?), son of Euphemia, from bodily harm, evil forces, witchcraft, spirits, and the attacks of the Adversary. Its composition shows a strong Christian framework, while also preserving significant continuities with earlier or parallel ritual traditions. |
| Academic Interpretation | This amulet is a good example of the way in which Coptic Christian magic should not be understood as a complete break with previous religious practices, but rather as a Christianized reworking of older protective techniques. The presence of psalms, Gospel incipits, and the words of Christ places the object within a clearly Christian horizon. Nevertheless, the use of divine names of Jewish tradition, Gnostic formulae, solar references, and elements such as Mithras or the secret name known only to the camel reveals a hybrid ritual system.
The object probably functioned as bodily protection. It was not an ordinary devotional text for reading, but a material support of ritual power. Its efficacy depended on the combination of writing, folding, physical contact with the body, and the accumulation of sacred names. It may therefore be classified as a Christian amulet of personal protection, although with syncretic components. |
| Bibliography | James Drescher, “A Coptic Amulet,” in Coptic Studies in Honor of Walter Ewing Crum (Boston: The Byzantine Institute, Inc., 1950), 265–270. |